CDD urges govermment to strengthen institutions
Ghana’s constitutional and legal requirements have served as the buffer for the country’s democratic stability and peaceful environment over the years, Dr Franklin Oduro, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has said.
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Speaking at a roundtable, Dr Oduro, who is also the Head of Research and Programmes at CDD-Ghana, urged the government to strengthen the bodies uniting the people.
“We should not rely on chance; it is important we put in place systems to check issues that can trigger conflict,” he said.
The discussion was on the topic: “Ethnic power relations and conflict: Lessons from around the world.”
The country’s cultural systems, school arrangement, work environment and constitutional and legal framework, he said, had provided the cleavages for national unity, which ought to be safeguarded.
Perceptions
He, however, said perceptions of political exclusion, economic inequality, ethnic dominance in political power control and unfair treatment remained pervasive in Ghana’s multi-ethnic society.
He said those perceptions, whether real, imaginary or latent, were signs of potential conflict that called for the need to improve upon state institutions to ease the level of risk.
The chieftaincy institution, the National Peace Council, religious bodies, among others, were praised for contributing significantly to national peace building efforts, while political parties were also lauded for implementing or continuing social intervention programmes — roads, schools, health facilities — across the regions.
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Dr Manuel Vogt, a researcher from ETH Zurich, said research data showed that ethno-nationalist exclusion and mobilisation were likely to trigger civil war and violence.
“When people are economically and politically disadvantaged, they may engage in mobilisation to start conflict,” he said.
He added that ethnic exclusion, which is the main source of conflict in many states, had been declining considerably in sub-Saharan Africa in the last 20 years.
Power sharing
He attributed the development to increased practice of democracy and power sharing governance which were said to have worked for many countries in the region.