Madam Agnes A. Gandaa, Coordinator of Tamale Ecclesiastical Province of Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) has called for a new orientation towards politics devoid of vote buying, ethnic politics and violence which had the tendency of creating division in the country.
She advised Ghanaians to comment on issues of development in their areas that needed the attention of politicians and ensure that those issues focused on the government for redress instead of selling their conscience.
Madam Gandaa made the call when addressing students of Navrongo Campus of University for Development Studies (UDS) at a workshop organized by TEPPON and sponsored by Dialogue and Advocacy for Good Governance on Monday.
The workshop coincided with the World Poverty Day celebrations.
She called for the enactment of a law that would ensure Presidential Candidates lived up to their campaign promises to make them accountable when they failed to deliver.
Madam Gandaa said students as future leaders of the country, should constantly remind politicians of the needs of their communities, the poverty level of people in the North, poor road network and policies that were geared towards development of the area.
She echoed the concerns of people in the three Northern Regions that students in Senior High Schools might drop out of school because of the undue delay over the years in the release of the feeding grant to schools and urged the students to advocate for the early release of the grants.
Madam Gandaa expressed concern about the absence of a substantive Vice Chancellor for UDS even though there were many qualified academicians in the area.
She called on well meaning Ghanaians and Government to move beyond political party affiliations, favours and take bold decisions on issues concerning the education sector which was core to the country's human development.
Madam Gandaa urged Ghanaians to eschew acts that could mar Election 2008 and contribute their quota in the quest for a peaceful election.
Mr Joseph Bangu, Programmes Coordinator of Dialogue and Advocacy for Good Governance (DAGG) pledged to ensure the promotion of good governance and identified accountable and responsible leadership as a major drawback in the country's quest for good governance.
He said "As a nation we always expect to have people to be in responsible positions but fail to prepare such people for the responsibility".
Mr Bangu said the country's political landscape revealed that most of the people contesting for positions at the district assemblies, Parliament and Presidency had been exposed to very little preparation.
He said it was to improve on their preparation that DAGG had been collaborating with TEPPCON to initiate a process to expose the youth as future leaders to leadership training skills to equip them.
Mr Emmanuel Chegeweh, Kassena Nankana East District Chief Executive, appealed to the students to help in any endeavour to ensure Election 2008 was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
He said the North was engulfed with poverty, disease and hunger therefore, anything that would affect the prevailing peace would compound the myriad problems facing the area.
Mr Chegeweh appealed to the students to carefully study the manifestoes and programmes of the political parties and vote for those that represented the interest and overall development of the country.