The programme, held in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education, assembled the Constituency Executives of the Ablekuma North, Central, South and West Constituencies.

Mr Tetteh Wayo, Accra Metro Director of the NCCE, said the event was organised to educate Constituency Executives on what they needed to know and do on the Election Day. He said it was necessary for all eligible voters to exercise their franchise and urged them to use their conscience, go to the polls and vote wisely.

Mr George Amoo, Programmes Director of the National Peace Council, reiterated the need for all individuals involved in the electoral process to foster peace among themselves and maintain an environment conducive for the process.

He expressed the belief that conflicts were not negative, but rather, it was often used to ignite development. However, he noted that it was the management of conflicts that made the difference. He thus advocated for conflicts to be managed in a non-violent way to bring peace.

He encouraged the Party Executives present to “have confidence in the structures put in place to ensure credible and peaceful elections”. Mr Joseph Boateng, Director for the Electoral Commission in the Ablekuma Sub-metro, took the Executives through a detailed education of the voting process on the Election Day. Additionally, he described the functions of the electoral officials on the voting grounds in relation to the voters and agents.

He stressed the need for all to assist to uphold the credibility of the Commission in conducting elections as evidenced by previously successive polls. Mr Boateng took the participants through the security measures laid out by the Commission to ensure unquestionable transparency in the entire electoral process, from the printing of the ballot papers to the final collation by the Returning Officers.

He illustrated the voting procedure with a demonstration on how to thumbprint appropriately and fold the ballot papers to avoid the incidences of rejected ballots in the elections. He however mentioned that registered voters who have lost their identification cards will be allowed to vote when their voter details have been verified in the register.

He also emphasised that voters who, for uncertain reasons, cannot have their fingers verified on the verification devices would not be disenfranchised but rather allowed to vote after the device has detected their faces.

Participants asked and received explanations to various questions bordering on the electoral process. The National Peace Council, constituted by an act of Parliament in 2001is mandated to develop and facilitate the mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution, and to build sustainable peace for the country.

The programme, running concurrently across the country, is being sponsored by the USAID-Ghana through the UNDP.