Sustainable policies critical in solving electoral violence - Peace Council

The National Peace Council has called on the government to develop comprehensive and sustainable programmes for the youth to be productive and help resolve any form of violence in the country.

The council believed that the absence of a coherent, pragmatic and sustainable socio-economic policy for the youth in terms of job creation, access to education and their social welfare made them fall prey to politicians to perpetrate violence before, during and after elections.

The Chairperson of the Greater Accra Regional Peace Council for Youth Ambassadors for Conflict Prevention ahead of 2020 Elections, the Right Reverend Samuel Kofi Osabutey, made the call last Thursday at a dialogue session on “conflict prevention before, during and after 2020 elections” with youth from selected hot spots.

The dialogue, funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat, brought together peace ambassadors from the Nima and Ashaiman community to be trained to educate their constituents on the need to ensure peace ahead of the December polls.

Ghana has a young age structure with 57 per cent under the age of 25, which has serious socio-political, cultural and economic implications for the country.

Dialogue

Rt Rev. Osabutey called for continuous stakeholder dialogues to address issues of insecurity in the country due to mistrust from the public on political leaders and the security agencies.

He said the youth of the country had great potential when given the needed attention and investment, stressing that the future of the country could be jeopardised if the youth were allowed to go astray with disregard for one another's socio-cultural differences.

Conflict prevention

Rt Rev. Osabutey stated that since its inception, the NPC had played a key role in conflict prevention and management and in ensuring peaceful elections in the country, especially in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 elections.

He advised the youth to exhibit a high sense of tolerance, trust, mediation, diversity, dignity, honesty and respect for one another since those values were the cornerstones for peace building.

"I urge all of us to have respect for divergent views to enhance our national development and an uncompromising commitment to peaceful co-existence and peaceful resolutions to conflicts and disputes," he said.

He stated that it was not only the prerogative of the government to ensure that there was peaceful co-existence among all, but a collective responsibility of all well-meaning Ghanaians to actively contribute to the peace agenda of the country.

No mayhem

A Senior Lecturer, Ashesi University, Dr Enyonam Kudonoo, advised the youth not to be used by any politician to cause mayhem in the lead-up to the elections.

"Do not allow anybody to use you to disrupt the peace of the country in serving their parochial interests, but be resolute and say no such tendencies," he said.

She encouraged them to add value to their lives and not be brainwashed by material offers to indulge in acts that would destabilise the enviable peace of the country. — GN

#GhanaVotes2020