Go to court if aggrieved – Christian Council tells parties

The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has admonished leaders of political parties to be mindful of their utterances and rather resort to courts when they feel aggrieved.

“We need to be mindful of our choice of words. … The courts have proven that justice will be served, so whoever must go to court should go to court but we should not be engaged in verbal attacks,” the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Opuni Frimpong, admonished.

His comments come in the wake of fresh verbal attacks by the flag bearer of the All People’s Congress (APC) on the person of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC).

According to Dr Ayariga, Mrs Charlotte Osei needed to be jailed for disobeying the Supreme Court by not allowing him to run in the 7 December polls.

He has also described Mrs Osei as a “tyrant” and a “disgrace to womanhood”. An obviously angry Mr Ayariga told Prince Minkah in an interview on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, 10 November, that his disqualification from the race for the second time in a row smacked of revenge.

Even though he would not put it down to his description of the EC boss as “stupid” and “foolish” when he first got disqualified, Mr Ayariga said there could be a potpourri of reasons which Mrs Osei may have against him, thus her refusal to allow him to take part in the December polls.

Asked by the host of the programme whether he would head to court over his second-time disqualification, Mr Ayariga answered: “Definitely you will hear that. This woman (Charlotte Osei) does not want us to have elections on 7 December and I will give her what she has asked for. What you pay for is what you get.”

But Rev Frimpong insisted that the use of abusive language and other offensive behaviour by political leaders were not helpful. For him the best solution is to dialogue and come to a consensus or head to court for redress.