By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, Nov 27, GNA – Representatives of Regional Houses of Chiefs and Queen Mothers in northern Ghana, including the Regional Peace Councils, civil society organisations and security agencies, have attended a high-level conference on sustainable peace in the area.
The day’s conference, held in Tamale, was organised by STAR Ghana Foundation, an NGO, with funding support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
It was on the theme: “Securing Peace in Northern Ghana, Before, During and After the 2024 General Election: The Role of Chiefs and Queen Mothers”.
Kologo Naba Clifford Tandigrewonkugre Asobayire (V), Paramount Chief of Kologo and President of the Kologo Traditional Area in the Upper East Region, Mozuu-Rana Abdulai Scott Mahami, Paramount Chief of Mozuu Traditional Area in the North East Region, Hajia Dr Kasanwurche Azara Bukari, President of the Savannah Regional Queen Mothers Association, Sagnar-Naa Yakubu Abdulai, Paramount Chief of Sagnarigu Traditional Area in the Northern Region, Poag-Naaba Kubura Seidu Abdul-Kaderi, President of the North East Queen Mothers Association were amongst the Chiefs and Queen Mothers, attended the conference.
It was to dialogue and come out with a communique and roadmap that would facilitate peaceful coexistence in northern Ghana.
The communique, which was developed after an extensive deliberation, was read by Naa Dr Mahama Yakubu, Chief of Zangbalun in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region.
The communique re-echoed the commitment of the traditional leaders to peace as a prerequisite for development.
It said peaceful and successful elections could only be achieved through effective collaboration and cooperation by all stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission, political parties, the National Commission for Civic Education, and traditional authorities, among others.
It called for the provision of required logistics for security agencies, and the Electoral Commission to enable them to perform their duties effectively in the upcoming elections.
It urged the security agencies to be diligent in the discharge of their duties and endeavour to exhibit professionalism required of them to ensure fairness to all parties and to decisively deal with all miscreants irrespective of their political affiliations.
The communique urged the media to conduct their affairs by the dictates of the ethics of journalism and ensure that they did not inflame passion and fan tension that could lead to violence and conflict.
It also called on political parties to be very mindful of their utterances in the final days of the elections, especially to avoid personal attacks, insults, and the use of vigilantism.
It called on the citizenry not to allow themselves to be used as ‘pawns’ for any politician to foment trouble and promote violence.
It said, “We remind all Ghanaians that elections are about choices and the exercise of that choice can be done peacefully if all electorates exercise respect for each other. Violence at the polling station or collation centre is completely unnecessary and electorates should safeguard their vote through laid down procedures rather than resort to violence.”
Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko Amidu, Executive Director, STAR Ghana Foundation, said the conference was to strengthen partnership amongst traditional leaders, women groups, and CSOs for collective peacebuilding and to secure commitments from political parties and relevant stakeholders to maintain peace before, during and after the elections.
He urged the media to demonstrate more interest in the issue of illegal mining in the northern sector, saying it had the tendency to trigger violence and destabilise the peace and stability currently being witnessed in the regions.
He further urged traditional authorities to continue to hold in high esteem their neutrality mandate and desist from openly endorsing political parties, indicating, such acts could affect their reputation as neutral actors in the political space.
Mr David Angaamba, Principal Programmes Manager, Upper East Regional Peace Council, also called on the traditional authorities to use their social capital and unifying element to create platforms for political parties, the Electoral Commission, NCCE and other stakeholders to educate community members on the electoral process, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
GNA