The U.S Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs, Dr. Jenday Frazer, has cautioned the media and political parties against acts and omissions that would endanger the country’s democracy. “The U.S calls on candidates, leadership and party officials and supporters of the NPP and the NDC to respect the citizens of Ghana by abiding by their votes that would be announced by the Electoral Commission results and refrain from provocation and incitement. “We also called on the media to act responsibly and to refrain from spreading unsubstantiated rumors, particularly the radio stations, so that environment of hostility and environment of menace are not created during vote counting as part of this election.” Dr. Jenday Frazer, who has been in Ghana for three days and visited several polling stations in and around Accra, told journalists on Sunday that the election as she observed was generally “smooth and transparent” as compared to other countries on the continent and commended the nation for its “quality” election. She said she had before the election met the two presidential candidates – Nana Akufo-Addo of NPP and Prof. Atta Mills of the NDC-, former President J. J. Rawlings, President J. A Kufuor and Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Afari Gyan, were she appealed to them to ensure that Ghana’s democracy is protected. “My main message to them has been one which I felt the leadership will all encourage their supporters, their party members and the Ghanaian population as a whole to have a peaceful free and fair election. “Having travelled across the continent and seen so many places where civil strike and war have destroyed the society, I am reminding them of Ghana’s heritage of peace and stability over the last decade.” She congratulated the Electoral Commission, Civil Society groups, the security and the media for a good work done to ensure that the runoff was carried out “orderly” and in a “professional” manner. She said the behavior of the populace also needs recommendation. Dr. Frazer said irrespective of which party forms the next administration, the US Government would still continue with its ‘excellent’ relationship with Ghana. She said the need for Ghana to sustain its democracy is of great interest to America, for instance, programmes like the Millennium Challenge Corporation which is $547 million spread over five years. “That is a huge investment of assistance; if this election is bad the benchmarks of MCC criteria would be affected.” She also noted that even though there were some pockets of skirmishes across the country, however, most of the allegations raised by the both parties during voting turned out to be untrue. She said the confrontation in some centres should not form the bases for either party to reject the national result if it does not go their way. She appealed to all parties to use the court system to address issues relating to the election. Story by Isaac Essel