By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA
Kumasi, Sept. 23, GNA – The Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel Kwaku Asante, former Chairman of the National Peace Council, has said coercive power alone cannot guarantee sustainable peace in Ghana, stressing the need for legitimate, accountable, and responsive public institutions.
He said democratic legitimacy depended on citizens experiencing public institutions as lawful, fair, accountable, and responsive, rather than relying solely on the state’s capacity to enforce laws.
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante made the observation at a ceremony in Kumasi to mark World Peace Day on the theme: “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everyday, Everywhere.”
He said the state had a constitutional responsibility to protect citizens, uphold the rule of law, and create an environment in which political competition could take place peacefully.
“Coercive power alone cannot maintain peace in Ghana.
Democratic legitimacy depends upon citizens experiencing public institutions as lawful, fair, accountable, and responsive,” he said.
The former National Peace Council Chairman said sustainable democratic peace required impartial and credible public institutions, transparent and accountable governance, effective electoral administration, protection of political participation and enforcement of laws against electoral and political violence.
He also called for effective mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of disputes, saying, Ghana had institutions established to promote peace but did not always provide adequate support for them to function effectively.
He cited budgetary allocations to institutions responsible for security and peacebuilding as an indication of the level of national commitment to peace.
“If a church boasts that they are very evangelical, look at their budget and how much is dedicated to discipling people.
Let us look at the country’s budget, how much is given to the police and how much is given to the Peace Council to promote peace in the country, and that tells you where we are,” he said.
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante said religious communities also had a prophetic responsibility to speak truth to power, while modelling peace, justice, and accountability within their own structures.
He urged the Police Service to be allowed to operate as a non-partisan institution and perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution, without undue political interference.
“Allow the police to do their work as a non-partisan institution. There is too much talk of orders from above. There should be no order from above, rather than the institution itself working based on what the Constitution allows them to work,” he said.
He said there was a need to examine aspects of the constitutional arrangements governing appointments to public institutions to strengthen their independence and impartiality.
He said sustainable peace should not be understood merely as maintaining calm during elections, but as cultivating a democratic culture in which citizens could disagree without hatred, political parties could compete without violence, and institutions could exercise authority without partisan abuse.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Yussif Ibrahim
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