By Abebe Dawuni
Saboba, Jan 3, GNA – Reverend Fr. Michiel Cobb, the Director of the Yendi Peace Centre has called for the positive use of social media for development and avoid using it to escalate hostilities.
Delivering an opening remarks at a workshop on “Bridge the divide” organized by the Yendi Peace Centre for Saboba chiefs, community leaders, community members at Saboba in the Northern Region, he said the purpose of the workshop was to unite people using social media.
Fr Cobb said efforts were made in the past to restore peace in the region and peace-building initiatives were undertaken for peaceful co-existence among the ethnic groups in the communities and that could be eroded if the current tensions arising from falsehood peddled around was not halted.
He reminded them that the workshop was about recognizing the danger “it is about finding practical ways to defuse the tensions and foster a culture of dialogue, respect and understanding”.
Reverend Fr. Gregory Dery (Esq) the main facilitator of the workshop presented a compelling case for adopting non-violent communication as a transformative tool for peace adding that years of using provocative and aggressive methods to achieve change had yielded no results.
“Should we not try something different to see if the desired change can be achieved” Fr. Dery asked, adding that non-violent communication was about recognizing their shared imperfections while striving to get-together.
He said the experience of Bawku and Rwanda, where conflict led to immense suffering and loss should serve as a guide and appealed to them to shelve the “cloak of ethnocentric communication” and embrace ‘ubuntu’ the philosophy that “I am because we are”.
He reminded all of them in the area that unity and empathy were critical to building lasting peace.
Superintendent Benjamin Mensah, the Saboba District Police Commander for his part urged the community members not to idle in the face of violent social media posts as silence could be seen as encouragement.
He advised traditional chiefs and community leaders to issue clear statements disassociating themselves from the authors of the inflammatory posts pointing out that some of the accounts spreading divisive messages may not even belong to members of the two ethnic groups (Dagombas and Konkombas).
He said “these could be individuals exploiting ethnic names to incite conflict likely because they benefit from unrest.
The workshop concluded with shared resolve among all participants, chiefs, community members pledging to work collaboratively towards peace, embrace non-violence communication and vigilance.
GNA