Let’s resolve to live in our communities peacefully

A number of communities in some parts of the country have been hit by communal violence in recent times, leading to the situation where curfews have been imposed on them in an attempt to control the situation.

The latest case was what happened last Tuesday at Akyem-Akooko, where the youth of the town clashed with a traditional priest, leading to the loss of lives.

Several others have been injured while a good number of inhabitants have fled the town, making the place virtually a ghost town.

Conflicts are inseparable from human nature and so long as people stay together in a particular location, there is bound to be one form of conflict or another.

There is a local adage which essentially says that the tongue and the teeth quite often encounter clashes that lead to the tongue bleeding but they have never failed to co-exist. That is to say, no matter the differences that pertain in any situation, and no matter how strong each side feels about its position, self-control and tolerance are key in ensuring that matters do not get out of hand.

When this country chose the path of democracy over some two decades ago, it did so acknowledging that respect for systems and procedures as well as the rule of law were positive benchmarks of good governance.

Since the country embarked on that path, institutions have been put in place to manage situations where people feel aggrieved over one issue or another.

Even though it is said that the wheel of justice runs slowly, it is far better than the situation where people take the law into their hands, thereby leading to undesirable ends.

But the point that must be stressed is that respect for the institutions of state responsible for handling disagreements is not a choice but a mandatory requirement under the laws of the country.

The Daily Graphic wishes to implore our traditional leaders to be up to the task in using the various dispute resolution mechanisms that we have at the local level to proactively handle would-be conflicts before they erupt.

We believe that every leader at the community level who is abreast of the developments within the community will be sensitive enough to pick up signals of situations that have the potential to become full-blown conflicts.

The burden that is placed on the national purse when conflicts erupt will not help the developmental aspirations of the country.

Conflicts will always reverse the progress that we have made as a country. We must learn to master the virtues of self-control and tolerance, bearing in mind that we are one people.

But when that fails and we have to go beyond interpersonal overtures, we should be guided by the laws to make use of due process in having our grievances addressed.