By Abebe Dawuni
Yendi, Sept 6, GNA-The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has called for collaboration on its second phase of Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) action in Northern Ghana.
The Inter Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) education meeting organized by NCCE for the representatives of political parties, security services, Civil Society Organizations, Traditional Authorities, and Religious bodies was sponsored by the European Union (EU).
Mr. Osman Kassim, the Yendi Municipal Director of NCCE made the call when he delivered his welcome address during the meeting at Yendi.
Mr Osman said as they moved towards the 2024 elections, the initiative could not have come at a more opportune time for peace, tolerance, and countering violent extremism.
He said Ghana had a tradition of carrying out eight consecutive Presidential and Parliamentary elections without any violence, showcasing a legacy of peaceful democratic transitions.
He said nevertheless, the increasing menace of violent extremism threatened the hard-earned stability and security and called for a proactive and vigilant approach to uphold their democracy.
According to the Director, the purpose of the education meeting was to encourage collaboration among all relevant parties’ especially political party representatives to address the threat of violent extremism and terrorism.
He said the NCCE’s theme: for the 2024 general election “Together We Can Build Ghana, So Get Involved” was appropriate and called for a reinforcement of commitment to address key monetisation in politics, disinformation, religious and ethnic tolerance, and electoral violence.
The topics discussed include monitoring and reporting of violent extremism, threats and vulnerabilities, the identification of indicators of youth radicalization and recruitment and the mediation and resolution of local conflicts.
Speaking on the illegal acquisition, possession and misuse of small arms and violent extremism Mr Abdul-Rahim Mutaka Regional Programme Officer-Yendi Division of Small Arms Commission said possessing a gun without an authority was an offence punishable by law and one could be fined GHC 12,000.00 or jailed for life or a minimum of 10 years for possessing a gun without authority.
He said the gun was an enemy, not a friend and did not know its owner, could not settle disputes and appealed to communities not to accommodate terrorist groups.
He mentioned some small arms and light weapons such as pistols, assault rifles, grenade launchers, and double-barrel guns.
The rest are heavy machine-gun, rocket-propelled grenades, recoilless rifles, portable missile launchers, mortar and bombs adding that civilians are only allowed to use muskets during funerals and other occasions and not assault rifles, double barrel guns among others.
GNA