We’ll campaign against parties not committed to ending political violence – Catholic Bishops

The Catholic Bishops Conference has said it will be forced to campaign against parties who do not show enough commitment to ending political violence.

It follows the opposition National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) refusal to sign the final roadmap to ending political vigilantism in the country.

Speaking at the ceremony on Tuesday, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Very Reverend Lazarus Anondee, said “Don’t be surprised if any party does not demonstrate a commitment to ending this, we may have no choice but to use our pulpits to campaign against such parties because if you encourage this, you are not encouraging democracy. You are not trying to help build our country

But the NDC has justified its refusal to sign the document describing the signing ceremony as premature.

According to the party, not all the issues concerning political parties had been addressed.

It argued that of the 22 recommendations in the roadmap, only four (4) concerned political parties. They want other stakeholders like the Electoral Commission (EC) to be a signatory to the document to ensure accountability.

“We cannot be seen to be signing a document for which other parties who are playing a part do not sign because then we cannot effectively monitor it… we think that the content is good but we do not have a way of making sure that it becomes effective,” Alex Segbefia said on behalf of the NDC at the ceremony.

The National Peace Council has given the NDC another opportunity to reconsider its position.

General Secretary of the NPP John Boadu expressed his disappointment in the opposition party.

“The roadmap was not sprung on us. We were given the opportunity to give our comments months ago. I am disappointed at our colleagues at the other side for not passing their comments to the Peace Council” Mr Boadu said.