By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, Dec. 13, GNA – Nana Agyakoma Difie II, member of Governing Board, National Peace Council (NPC), says protracted chieftaincy disputes and political conflicts threatens national peace and social cohesion.
She, therefore, called on members of the NPC, particularly those at the regional levels, to work hard to promote and deepen the prevailing peace in the nation.
“The Council has a herculean task to build, strengthen and consolidate the gains of the prevailing peace in the nation ahead of Election 2024,” she said.
Nana Difie, also the Paramount Queen-Mother of Asante Mampong, made the call when she inaugurated the reconstituted Bono Regional Peace Council in Sunyani on Monday.
The 13-member council, chaired by Professor Mrs Mercy Afua Adutwumaa Derkyi, Senior Lecturer, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), comprises representatives from academia, traditional authorities, religious bodies, civil society, and the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC).
Among other duties, it offers advice to the BRCC and the Regional Security Council in relation to conflict prevention, management, resolution and building sustainable peace in the region and also mediate in conflict likely to erupt into violence.
In spite of the international recognition as a relatively stable nation, Nana Difie said the country had a myriad of perennial conflicts, which had at times erupted into violent clashes, with the potential to destabilise the nation, which ought to be tackled proactively.
She said the work of the NPC remained sacrificial and asked the members to identify and tackle the various challenges threatening the peace of the region.
“Most of Ghana’s internal conflicts seem to be largely initiated by minor disputes at community level that erupt into violence,” she said.
The main underpinning cause of conflict in Ghana are inequities of access to, distribution of, management and use of resources including natural resources like land.
Other major causes include political conflicts and chieftaincy disputes.
Nana Difie, responsible for Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions as the NPC Board member, noted that though there was relative peace in the Bono Region, the area was bedeviled with conflicts ranging from chieftaincy, land and electoral violence.
While commending the Bono Regional House of Chiefs and the Coordinating Council for their continued co-operation and collaboration with the NPC, she called for deepened collaboration among all stakeholders to strengthen the peace.
Prof Mrs. Derkyi, on behalf of the reconstituted Council, expressed appreciation to the NPC for the confidence reposed in them and promised to work hard to achieve their mandate.
Earlier, in a welcoming address, the Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholic Bishop of Sunyani and the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, congratulated the members for accepting to serve on the Council.
“You have the responsibility to build and sustain peace in the region,” he said.
GNA