By Iddi Yire
Accra, April 4, GNA – Mr Henry Quartey, the Interior Minister, says the decision of the National Peace Council (NPC) to plan and strategize ahead of the national elections in December is highly commendable.
The Minister gave the commendation on Thursday in Accra, when he formally opened a 2024 Election Planning Retreat workshop, organized by the NPC for the Members of its Governing Board and all the 16 Regional Peace Council Chairmen.
It was on the theme: “Building Consensus to Strengthen Mechanisms for Cohesion, Political Tolerance, Peace-building and Nation-building.”
Mr Quartey noted that the NPC and its Regional Offices provide a platform for early warning alerts all over the country.
“It is in this spirit that I see this meeting between the Board, Chairmen of Regional Peace Councils, the Executive Secretary and the Directors, very important, and in the right direction,” he stated.
He said the Council, in its quest, to realize its mandate in this difficult time Ghanaians find themselves, things will have to be done differently if they want to get the required results.
“Let’s fashion out our activities according to law, policy and administrative regulations to ensure no board member or staff is left out in your quest to seek the total peace of Ghana,” Mr Quartey stated, adding, “Your need to work in harmony and move together cannot be underestimated.”
Mr Quartey noted that the threats to the peace and security of the country were obvious, the youth bulge, unemployment and recently, the threat of violent extremism and terrorism.
He said he had been informed about the various programmes that the NPC had embarked upon to build resilience in the country’s democracy.
He lauded the Council’s efforts to build tolerance in communities, interventions in various conflicts across the country, peace education, sensitization of communities around the borders about the issue of violent extremism and terrorism, and the recent dialogue which led to the return of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) at the Electoral Commission were commendable.
He called on all actors in Ghana’s elections, namely political parties, the Electoral Commission, the Ghana Police Service, other security services and civil society groups, to play their respective roles without fear or favour to ensure the integrity of the general elections.
He urged Ghanaians to strive to put Ghana first and make a conscious effort at making their country better than they came to meet it.
Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the NPC, said the object of the National Peace Council was to facilitate and develop mechanisms for conflict prevention, management, and resolution and to build sustainable peace in the country.
He said the NPC’s role was to encourage cooperation among all relevant stakeholders in peacebuilding in Ghana.
“We are to do this by using cooperative problem-solving skills to produce outcomes that can lead to conflict transformation, social, political, and religious reconciliation, and transformative dialogues.”
GNA