by Bajin D. Pobia
Mr Francis Azuumah, National Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, has appealed to the Regional Early Warning and Response Teams of the Council not to show any bias towards politicians seeking to foment trouble.
He urged the teams to put aside political considerations and be bold to point out to them if they are causes of conflicts in the communities. Mr Azuumah said this at the inauguration of the Upper West Regional Early Warning and Response Board held in Wa.
He said peace would be sustained in Ghana if members of the boards and other institutions responsible for the maintenance in the country are bold to point out to people found fomenting troubles in communities.
"Tell the truth and let us fight the right people found to be fomenting troubles in the communities rather than keep silent over issues because the people involved are perceived to be wielding power in society", he said.
The National Executive Secretary said government was currently spending too much money to maintain peace in Ghana after the occurrence of conflicts. Mr Azuumah urged stakeholders responsible for the sustenance of peace to be proactive and ensure that early warning signals were not only sent to the appropriate quarters but that they were properly handled and resolved amicably.
Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, Upper West Regional Minister, who inaugurated the Board, said of the 11 constituencies in the Region, four of them were mapped out as flash points which required special attention.
He said the issue was a disturbing situation to the Regional Security Council because the Region is a young one and needed peace and stability to enable it to catch up with the rest of the other regions. Alhaji Sulemana said to prevent, manage and promptly respond to conflicts in the upcoming elections, there is the urgent need to put in place early warning and response mechanisms to focus on systematic data collection, analysis, formulation of recommendations, including risk assessment and information sharing.
He appealed to the National Peace Council to support the Board in terms of information sharing and dispute resolution, while urging United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help resource the Regional Peace Councils with the basic tools and equipment to enable them to carry out their operations.
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