Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) has started accepting applications from media personnel for accredition to cover the country's Dec 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The EC began accepting applications on Monday and the process will continue until Nov 7, it said in a statement here Monday, adding that the media organisations should include the particulars of their personnel.

Accreditation tags will be granted only to those who have formally applied for it and for a fee to be determined by the Commission. Any request submitted after the deadline of Nov 7, 2016 will not be considered, it said.

Meanwhile, a deputy news editor of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) has stressed that media practitioners can help reduce the current high political temperatures in the country to ensure a peaceful general election come Dec 7.

Francis Ameyibor, noting that the media holds the key for a peaceful election, said Monday: "We have the key to either continue to raise the political tempo which will invariable create the platform for violence. Or we reduce the tempo through pro-active reportage, creation of enabling fair environment for all electoral stakeholders, black out hate speech proponents and maintain high professional gate keeping role."

-- BERNAMA-NNN-GNA