National Peace Council launches report on peaceful co-existence of Ewes in V/R
The National Peace Council yesterday launched a Report on perceived claims of the marginalisation of Ewe ethnic group in Ho.
The conference which main objective was to promote peace and encouraged peaceful co- existence between different ethnic groups was under the theme” Building an inclusive nation: Dialoging with Volta and Oti Regions.
It is also to create a platform for participants to discuss and dialogue for mutual understanding.
Launching the Report on behalf of the Minister for National Security, Kan Dapaah, Major General Emmanuel Kotia, Chairman Ghana Boundary Commission explained that the need for peace in Ghana was very important at the present time when the country was facing economic challenges, issues of youth agitations of limited opportunities and threat of terrorism in West Africa.
He said it was therefore in the spirit of promoting the peace and security of the country that the National Security apparatus supported the National Peace Council to conduct a series of dialogues to gather much information as possible from the perspective of the people inorder to inform government for the necessary steps to foster greater tolerance among the people to improve peaceful co- existence for faster national peace and development.
Mr Kan Daapah noted that, it was in pursuit of the above objectives that between the period of July and August 2021, that the National Peace Council begun a national structural dialogue to engage the people of Volta and Oti Regions mainly the Ewe people to examine the claim of ethnic discrimination and come out with recommendation to appraise short to long term response by government.
That first phase of the intervention informed the National Peace Council embarked on grassroots focus to look into the matter targeting 18 selected communities involving a total of 522 participants.
The meeting seeks to create a high level platform for government officials, Members of Parliament, traditional rulers and civil society organisations among others to engage in an honest discussion of the report generated from the dialogue of the perception of marginalisation of the Ewe ethnic group.
That, the Minister, explained the findings would be generated into a communiqué on a roadmap for implementing the agreed recommendations to ensure greater national peace and coexistence.
He assured that the Ministry for National Security was encouraged by the work of the National Peace Council and remained committed to Ghana’s quest to sustain peace and security for its people.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa in his contribution noted that the alleged marginalisation of the Ewe ethnic group and the Volta Region did not start today but transcended all governments as far back as 1956.
He said those of them in government have worked and would continue to contribute assiduously to ensure fair and equitable distribution of scarce national resources to satisfy the basic needs regardless of ethnic identity.
Rev. Dr Adu Gyamfi, Board Chairman of National Peace Council in his welcome address stated that the issues of conflict resolution and peace building are the greatest challenges of “our time especially those of us in West Africa as we confront violence and terrorism.”
He said the struggle for peace is the collective responsibility of all citizens, adding, “Let us therefore continue to promote the values of respect for each other, tolerance for divergence views and peaceful co- existence.”
FROM KAFUI GATI, HO
