Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, Founder and
Overseer of the Christian Action Faith Ministries International, on Thursday appealed to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) to accept the results of the presidential election declared by the Electoral Commission (EC) and for peace to prevail.
"For the sake of the nation and posterity, I appeal to both parties to respect the Electoral Commission's decision even if they personally disagree with the outcome," he said in a statement e-mailed to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
"Each party should be reminded that the destiny of this nation is bigger than personal destiny and political ambitions," Archbishop Duncan-Williams said.
He also called on the Leaders, rank and file of both the NDC and NPP to put God and the nation above politics, parties and personal interests.
Citing a story in the Bible where two women in Israel brought a living child to King Solomon with each one of them claiming ownership of the child, he said the King said the child should be divided into two and shared between them since neither of them was willing to give up or to make a concession to save the child.
"It was the woman, who conceded in order to save the child, who won the child and a place in history," he said.
"So conceding does not necessarily mean that the one conceding is the vanquished. Conceding in a reasonable time frame to save the nation from violent conflicts is a mark of maturity and the desire to foster an atmosphere of peace," Archbishop-Duncan-Williams said.
He stressed that if a concession had to be made in order to save Ghana; "remember this example and let your God be your guide. The nation's destiny, future and history are at stake".
Archbishop Duncan-Williams said prior to the election, he called on the nation to pray for peaceful elections.
As a result he called together some men of God and for the past 10 weeks they have been engaging in prayer sessions, which have been broadcast on television.
"These prayer sessions and many others in homes, churches and all over the nation have contributed immensely towards ensuring generally peaceful elections," nothing, however, that there had been concerns raised about the rising tension across the country as a result of the disagreement over some of the results and allegations of electoral malpractices.
He noted that in the heat of the political stalemate, some men of God had been criticized for failing to speak out to help to avert any political disaster.
However, Archbishop Duncan-Williams said, many prominent pastors in collaboration with civil society organizations had been part of broad consultations from the drafting of the political parties' code of ethics to election observation.
The Church, he stressed, had contributed its quota towards ensuring that the elections did not end up tearing the nation apart.
"It is often said that in an election such as ours, there can only be one winner, but actually we can have two winners.
"The candidate with the least number of votes can win by accepting the results graciously; the candidate with the most votes can win by ushering Ghana into a new era of peace, inclusiveness and stability."
Archbishop Duncan-Williams called for the safety of everybody adding that the leadership, rank and file of all the security agencies must be intact.
"I join other men and women of God all over this country declaring that evil will not prevail over our beloved Ghana. Evil cannot prevail when we pray. I call on the nation to join us in fasting and praying for Ghana," he said.
Voters in Tain would go to the polls on Friday to determine who would be sworn in as president on January 7.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan announced on Tuesday that the results from 229 out of the 230 constituencies gave Prof John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC 4,501,466 votes representing 50.13 per cent of total valid votes cast while Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP garnered 4,478,411 votes representing 49.87 per cent.
Prof. Mills won in the Tain constituency during the first round when he obtained 16,211 votes, representing 50.7 per cent, while Nana Akufo-Addo got 14,935 votes representing 46.8 per cent. The remaining six candidates took the rest of the votes.
Earlier on Thursday, an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Mr Justice Edward Amoako Asante asked New Patriotic Party (NPP) to reroute its request to stop the final declaration of the Presidential Election Runoff results.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mr Mac Manu, Chairman of NPP, filed an ex-parte motion to stop the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan and the EC from declaring the final results of the presidential Election Runoff. They were represented by Mr Atta Akyea and Ms Irene Addo.
But Mr Justice Asante said the case was so important and of national interest and could destabilise the country that it could not be heard ex-parte.
He ruled: "I hereby order the plaintiffs/applicant to serve the writ of summons as well as the motion for the interim injunction on the NDC and Prof. John Evans Atta Mills - that is the interested parties.
"Plaintiff is to file it by 1000 am Friday and the defence is to be filed by Sunday, 4pm. "The said motion should be fixed for the fifth day of January, 2009."