Mr Fritz Baffour, Minister of Information has urged Public Relations practitioners to educate the public on the need for peaceful, free and fair election to consolidate the country's democratic credentials ahead of the December polls.
He said ensuring peaceful election was a shared responsibility and admonished all and Sundry to be civil in their utterances and avoid anything untoward to destabilize the peaceful atmosphere and international recognition the country had enjoyed over the years.
Mr Baffour made the call on Wednesday at the 20th Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana and its 40th Anniversary celebration in Accra.
He acknowledged the various contributions made by the Institute and its members towards the development of the country in areas of human resource capacity building in presenting their organizations in the best light to the public.
Mr Baffour added that all public relations practitioners had done their best to market their various organizations and urged IPR and all practitioners to market the country and its attributes to the outside world.
He noted that this would encourage the citizenry and the international community to take advantage of the conducive atmosphere in the country to invest and work together for the economic, cultural and socio-political development of the country, the sub-region and the world at large.
Mr Perry P.K.Ofosu, Vice-President of IPR said the institute had grown from strength to strength in membership, adding that, as at October 10, 2012, 115 new members made up of 50 new affiliates and 65 new students had joined the Institute.
Mr Ofosu said as part of the Institute's 40th Anniversary activities, it will organize an Excellent Awards and Dinner Night in 2013 to provide a platform for the celebration of excellence in public relations practice and show appreciation to some individuals and organizations for their support to the progress of the Institute.
He said since the amendment of its Constitution, it had attracted some seasoned Public Relations professionals and intended to pursue the project of bringing all practicing professionals into the fold of IPR.
Mr Ofosu said the Institute would in 2013 launch a research fund to assist the research committee to conduct research into specifically selected areas in Public Relations and communications and the results be published and made available to practitioners.
Mr George Blankson, Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority said the Institute had come of age at 40 years and believed its impact had deeply been felt across the business landscape, having produced a number of professionals in the country.
Mr Blankson urged practitioners to be vigilant to uphold the highest code of conduct and ethics in their practice and debate national issues and policies on governance dispassionately with a view to strengthening democracy, human rights and rule of law in the country.
He urged the Institute to continue providing opportunities for continuous professional development of members through training programmes to enable them to be relevant in the world of work.