Northern Region Gets Peace Council

Regional Peace Council Members
A13-MEMBER Regional Peace Council (RPC) has been inaugurated in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital.

Sheik Mahamoud Gedel, a Board Member of the National Peace Council (NPC), called on members to protect national integration in order to avoid violence during the inauguration ceremony.

He charged Ghanaians to work towards effectively sustaining the country’s democracy in accordance with cultural values, customs and traditions rather than allow themselves to be divided on chieftaincy, ethnic, political and religious lines.

Sheik Gedel particularly admonished residents in the region to redirect their energies into upholding the principles of democracy through peaceful coexistence and forge ahead in unity to foster development in their various localities.

According to him, Ghana is recognized in the West African sub-region as an oasis of peace, but the pockets of recurring violence are gradually robbing it of that status.

It was in this regard, he disclosed, that the NPC had been charged with the daunting task of deepening peace in the country through mediation and consolidation.

Sheik Mahamoud Gedel said among the core mandate of the RPC was to sensitize the residents on the need to avoid conflicts in order to expand the freedoms and liberties of the citizenry to ensure national equilibrium.

He reminded members that the task they had put themselves up for was challenging and urged them to endeavour to promote peace in and out of the region, despite any teething challenges they might encounter.

Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, on behalf of his colleagues commended the NPC for reposing confidence in them and appointing them to take centre stage of peace issues in the region.

He was worried that ethnic conflicts, chieftaincy and land disputes as well as political and electoral conflicts had plagued the region since 1979.

These conflicts, he observed, had had negative effects on human lives, the economy and the development of the region – which is considered as one of the poorest in the country.

The Catholic Archbishop blamed the situation on the high illiteracy rate, disclosing that about 86% of females and 79% of males in the region are illiterate.

He gave the assurance that the Council would work in collaboration with the Northern Regional Coordinating Council and the Regional Security Committee to ensure peace.

Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, appealed to various stakeholders, including the NPC, to work towards preventing conflicts.

The Minister urged members to exhibit impartiality in the discharge of their duties as peace ambassadors, regardless of their background.

He disclosed that since assuming office as a Regional Minister, 90% of his time had been committed to issues of peace in one way or the other, with little time to concentrate on other developmental issues.

FROM Stephen Zoure, Tamale

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