The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has downplayed the impact of peace declarations in ensuring peace during elections in Ghana. According to him, such declarations have not been effective in maintaining peace across the country. "Signing a peace declaration doesn't mean anything to the party, as previous pacts have not yielded any real results," Asiedu Nketiah stated in an interview as reported by adomonline.com. He said that rather than relying solely on symbolic actions, proactive efforts are needed to avert violence. "If you allow violence to brew, it will happen whether you sign a declaration or not. That's why, more than a year ago, I started talking about the need to remove the building blocks for a violent election," he explained. He criticized the emphasis on signing peace accords only after hostilities had already erupted and urged authorities to deal with the underlying issues that could lead to violence before it gets out of control. "At any stage when something is happening, I call on those who, in the future, will call us to sign a declaration to speak up and stop it from happening. "Otherwise, if you let these issues build up and then say, 'Let's play a peace football match, sign a declaration, and hope for a peaceful election,' it won't work.