Atortorkorpe (Near Ada), Aug. 20, GNA – The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has sensitized the youth of the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region to stand for national cohesion and peaceful existence.
The programme dubbed: “Empowering Ghanaians to stand for National Cohesion,” was organized with support from the Ministry of National Security.
Mr. Solomon Dzidzor Mensah, NCCE Ada East District Director, said parts of Ghana particularly the Volta and Oti Regions experienced secessionism activities which threatened the peace of the country in 2020.
He commended the security services for professionally dealing with that threat; stressing that, Article 41 Paragraph (c) of the 1992 Constitution encourages all citizens, “to foster national unity and live-in harmony with others”. It is our duty to respect the rights and freedoms of others.
He said National Cohesion as a concept entailed developing an integrated citizenry with a sense of belonging amongst members of different groups within the country.
“It encompasses the values of unity, equality, freedom, democracy, peace, social justice and rule of law,” he noted.
Madam Hewlett Annan, NCCE Greater Accra Regional Director told the youth that the 1992 Constitution was the supreme law of the land.
“Therefore, NCCE is mandated to educate you on the contents of the Constitution and so we assumed that those who want to secede from Ghana do not know Ghana is a unitary State and so the territories of Ghana were defined at the time of Independence and it remains as such.
“So, nobody should secede from Ghana because it’s unlawful and so we are educating everyone on national cohesion so that we can live together in unity and preserve this beautiful democracy we have.
“We should be proud to be Ghanaians and we are targeting the youth in our education because they are mostly used to cause mayhem in the country,” she said.
Madam Sarah Dugbakie Pobee, District Chief Executive for the Ada East District asked the youth to understand that democracy is not about insults and entreated them to respect each other and public officials in their political talks.
“The journalists among us should also be careful with the kind of information they send to the public out there because Ada is more than partisan politics and we need to understand the need to tolerate and respect each other irrespective of our clan and tribal differences,” she said.
District Superintendent of Police Andreas K. Miffetu, Ada District Police Commander educated the youth on the Public Offense Act, Vigilantism and Neighbourhood Watch Committee stating that, “the police need the assistance of you especially the youth in gathering intelligence to clamp down perpetrators of crime”.
There are issues that need not to be taken to the High Courts because the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been set up in our localities to handle issues between relatives to cut down cost and preserve relationships, he said.
Some of the youth who spoke to GNA after the one-day workshop expressed their delight over the various presentations and pledged to support in building a national cohesion and building peaceful and united Ada and Ghana at large.
GNA