The National Peace Council (NPC) is embarking on series of community dialogues in the Volta and Oti Regions to address the claim of discrimination against people of the two regions and to promote national peace and unity.
The dialogue on the theme: “Peaceful coexistence through inclusive society,” would involve influential personalities from the Traditional leadership, Christian and Muslim clergy, businessmen and women, the academia and civil society in the two regions to deliberate on the issue.
Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Board Chairman NPC, speaking at the launch of the dialogue in Ho, said phase one of the exercise would discuss the claim of discrimination against the Volta and Oti Regions.
The exercise would document the origin, nature and most noticeable or important things that informed the claim of discrimination and its implication for national cohesion.
He said the dialogue would be held in the southern, middle and northern zones of the Volta Region, adding the outcome of these zonal dialogues would inform a broader conference to help solve the concerns.
He said the main objective of the intervention was to facilitate sustainable peace in Ghana by creating a safe and structured dialogue platform for the various interest groups in the Volta and Oti Regions to inform further action by the government.
The Chairman said the overall goal of the dialogue was to deepen tolerance among the various people to foster and enhance national cohesion, peaceful coexistence and inclusiveness for sustainable peace and national development.
Rev. Dr Adu-Gyamfi said the NPC’s mandate was to facilitate and develop mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution and to build sustainable peace in the country.
It is in line with this mandate that the NPC and its Regional Peace Councils were undertaking the intervention.
The Chairman said the exercise aimed to create an opportunity to address concerns with the potential to disturb the peace by promoting understanding among the people in the two regions and to encourage diversity and tolerance.
He said the use of intemperate and abusive language, particularly during general elections, to malign a group of Ghanaians based on their religious, ethnic or political differences was one of the factors contributing to polarization and division in the country.
He said though Ghana generally was regarded as an oasis of stability in the West African sub-region, there were pockets of protracted conflicts, communal-based conflicts, most of which had their sources in chieftaincy, land or structural differences.
The Chairman said peace-building experts believed that the pockets of conflicts and sporadic violence had the potential to destabilize the country and reverse the gains made.
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, who launched the dialogue, said ethnic diversity must not be the basis for discrimination and exclusion, but rather a basis for unity and growth.
Naturally, no ethnic group which is discriminated against or excluded would be happy, he said and urged all to support the NPC in its quest to curtail the situation.
Reverend Seth Mawutor, Chairman, Volta Regional Peace Council, said in the Oti Region, the dialogue would be held at Likpe, Lolobi, Brewaniase and Dambai, and called for support from all.
He said the NPC took the claim very seriously as, in multi-ethnic societies such as Ghana, ethnic-based discrimination was considered a risk to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
He said the claim of ethnic-based discrimination against Ewes were expressed at various fora and in public discourse over the years, adding, however, “we are not clear about its origin, nature and salience.”
Rev. Mawutor, therefore, asked the citizens to provide the necessary support to the NPC to enable it to make appropriate recommendations to entrench national cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
Togbui Kwaku Ayim IV, President of Zavi Traditional Council, who deputised for the President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, said the dialogue “should be seen as a platform to address the remote causes of this discrimination and marginalisation against the Ewe ethnic group in the country.”
He was optimistic that the NPC would execute this task effectively and find an amicable solution to the problem.
