‘Guard peace in the country’

A senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Faculty of Law, Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, has called on Ghanaians to guard jealously the peace the country is enjoying.

She said peace was a priceless and fragile commodity which must keenly be  guarded.  “There is the need to properly relate with people, especially in the post-election period to avoid conflict,” she advised.

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu made the call at the Second Annual Peace Lecture organised by the Rotary Club of Accra West, in collaboration with the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), in Accra last Wednesday.

Emphasising peace as a critical basis for national development, the law professor said; "This is why there is always the need to nurture peace. We should not wait till the need arises for peace before we go for it." 

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, who was the guest speaker at the event, spoke on the theme; “Growing our peace - peace management and humanitarian action.”

Technological advancement

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu further explained that the creation of a new sense of community - social media -  had enhanced access to information on the global plane.

She indicated that technology had enhanced the concept of freedom of association such that persons in far-away areas could bring pressure to bear on political office holders  to respond to particular concerns.

“Politicians can reach their electorate in chat rooms  by tweets, and so eliminate those who block access to office holders for their own political gains,” she added.

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu noted that although the technological world had created avenues for governments to find solutions to problems, there was still the need to include civil society organisations in promoting dialogue on peace.

“The concept of conflict management explains that conflict is dynamic and must be assisted, but can not completely be eliminated,” she noted.

Consequently, she advised the government and civil society groups  to build more strategies to solve conflicts.

Peace management

In an interview after the ceremony, the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, suggested that national reconciliation should be made a permanent feature in national politics  to promote peace.

He expressed concern that many civil society organisations had stopped spreading the word of peace after the election, which, he said, was counter productive.

“I realised that many people have grievances over the years and so they are now retaliating.

“They just wait for an opportunity to express the pain that has been within  them for some years,” he said, adding that that  was why there was the need for national reconciliation to become a permanent feature in the body politic of the country.