Accra, January 13, 2003: It's been reported that Togolese long-serving President, Gnassingbe Eyadema has had his country's constitution tinkered with so that he can run again (and of course win) as President.

Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufuor is being asked by certain civil society groups in Ghana to appeal to the Togolese leader to desist from this clearly foolish and provocative venture.

But how much can our president influence his colleague in Lome to cut it out if the man has already made up his mind and has the full support of his own courtiers? Not much.

What if Eyadema thrusts a finger in some rude fashion at our respected president and says mind your business? From then on, our president's nights - and days too, would be nightmarish, for Ghana's eastern borders would all of a sudden become too hot to handle.

President Kufuor has in the two years of becoming president developed a huge stature internationally as a democrat and one of these few African leaders who can make democracy work. No wonder much is expected of him in the AU's and ECOWAS' peer correcting principles.

Though there are dangers involved, we wish to add our voice to those other voices calling on our President to bring to bear whatever moral force he can marshal to dissuade Eyadema from running again.

We do not mean Kufuor should give his colleague a public dressing down, but to exploit the trust we believe exists between the two of them to let the Togolese leader know that should his intention be put into practice, it would not be in the interest of the sub-region and continent.