President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated the re-constituted governing board of the National Peace Council.
The Board is tasked to go the extra mile in building public trust to sustain Ghana’s peace and development.
In his address at the inaugural ceremony in Accra on Tuesday, the president implored the council to strengthen its collaboration with the Electoral Commission, the Inter Party Advisory Committee, the National Commission for Civic Education, as well as traditional and religious authorities.
“Ghanaians are calling on you to rise above partisanship, resist manipulation and become the custodian of our peace and the nation’s conscience,” he stated.
He called for the institutionalisation of Pre-election dialogue platforms.
President Mahama pointed to the protracted Bawku conflict as an area needing urgent attention.
“As we speak, violence in Bawku has claimed numerous lives and displaced several households. Chieftaincy conflicts are also rife and it calls on the National Peace Council to work assiduously if we are to maintain Ghana’s image as an oasis of peace in our sub-region,” he stated.
Minister for the Interior and Minister responsible for National Security, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, who was present at the ceremony, disclosed that the Council implemented strategic interventions including constituency and national level dialogues that resulted in political parties agreeing to use peaceful democratic means to address conflicts.
He noted that the Council had brought all twelve presidential candidates to sign the fourth presidential peace pact during the 2024 elections, which has been recognized internationally as a home-grown solution to addressing internal democratic tension.
“Evidence from the field shows that volatile constituencies such as Asutifi South and Asunafo North where there had always been post-elections conflicts remain calm till date after the elections,” the Minister said, while acknowledging some disturbances in constituencies like Damongo and Ablekuma North.
Alhaji Mubarak also announced Ghana’s readiness to Chair and host the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC), with the headquarters moving from Switzerland to Ghana in the coming months.
He revealed that the National Peace Council has established offices in all 16 regions of Ghana and is currently working on 368 cases across the country, the majority being chieftaincy-related.
The thirteen members of the re-constituted National Peace Council are Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Fianu, SVD (Chairman), Rt. Rev. Dr. Hilliard K. Dela Dogbe, Ph.D., Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye, Bishop Dr. Victor Osei, Alhaji Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, Sheik Salman Mohammed Alhassan and Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu.
Others include Numo Blafo Akotia Omaℇtu III; Linda Teye; Dr. Abubakar Umar Alhassan; Georgette Francois; Susan Aryeetey; and Nana Effah-Apenteng.
Richard Aniagyei,ISD
