THE chiefs and elders of the Ga state yesterday called all Ghanaians to ensure peace during the ongoing biometric voter registration exercise and electioneering period.
They also appealed to politicians to be tolerant in their statements to avoid inflaming passion.
At a news conference in Accra the Asere Dzaaste, Nii Amarkai III flanked by some sub-chiefs to speak on a range of issues, described as regrettable developments on the political fronts at the ongoing voter registration exercise.
�We condemned in no uncertain terms utterances calling for war against Gas and Ewes�, he said.
�The Ga Traditional Area where the Odododiodooo constituency is located comprises seven divisions and made up of 123 centres out of which only six polling centres witnessed disturbances in the area�, he said.
Nii Amarkai said having stayed and worked in Liberia and Cote d�Ivoire for years, he knew what war could do.
He noted that the chiefs and people of Ga Mashie are peace loving, and that nothing must be done to damage the relationship that exist between Gas and other sister ethnic groups.
�We therefore call on political parties to adhere to Electoral laws and be mindful of their utterances in order inflame passion,� he said.
He said another disturbing issue was the numerous chieftaincy disputes with its attendant land disputes which has led to the loss of lives and property and called on all traditional authorities in Joma, Achiaman, Oblogo, Aplaku and Oshie to excise restraint while the traditional council determined the cases.
They have also called on the government and the Lands Commission to adhere to all land acquisition arrangements saying that will go a long way to safeguard the interest of land owners and developers.
On sanitation in Accra, Nii Amarkai said as traditional leasers, they had a stake to ensure that Accra was clean.
�While we intensify our efforts to educate residents on the need to keep their environments clean, we equally stand by the AMA to eliminate all slums in Accra whose activities contribute to the unsanitary conditions� and appealed to government to give the AMA the free hand to deal with the slum situation.�
On ban on drumming and noise making ahead of this year�s Homowo celebration, Nii Amarkai appealed to all to adhere to the directive which starts from Monday.
Accra, he said, had become a cosmopolitan area with more than five million people of different indigenes both local and foreign but endeavour to respect customs and traditions of the Gas.
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