Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President, Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has urged the Police to ensure that the killers of five people in Wa in the Upper West Region are brought to justice.
He made the appeal at the 2022 International Peace Day press conference in Accra, which was organised by the National Peace Council (NPC) in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) in Ghana.
“As we celebrate this year’s Peace Day, it is my hope that Ghana and the world will witness a lasting peace,” Mr Dwumfour stated.
“This week alone, we all learnt with shock the dastardly killing of five persons in Wa. This has heightened tension in the Region which, if not handled well can disturb the peace we are all yearning for.”
He called on the Police to do everything within their power to arrest the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
He said the Police must intensify security in the northern sector of the country, particularly, in Wa, and work towards crime prevention since it was the only way peace could be guaranteed.
The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the UN General Assembly to commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.
The Global theme for this year’s commemoration is “End Racism. Build Peace”.
The NPC, in seeking to harness Ghana’s existing inter-ethnic and inter-religious ties and to promote tolerance, unity and more inclusive society, has domesticated the theme: “Managing Ethnic Diversity in Ghana for Sustainable Peace”.
Mr Dwumfour appealed to the Peace Council, the Police Service and institutions of peace to collaborate with the GJA in building the capacity of journalists on security issues, aimed at ensuring a lasting peace in our communities and country.
He also called on the Interior Ministry to always update the media on the state of insecurity of the country to enable us the media and the citizenry to work towards creating the enabling environment for peace to reign.
“In achieving peace, we all need to put our shoulders to the wheel and commit to it. We need to “walk the talk and not talk the talk,” Mr Dwumfour said.
He said the citizenry must also assist the Police with information to enable them fight crime which was a major threat to peace; saying “peace is a collective responsibility”.
He reiterated the GJA’s resolve and unwavering commitment to supporting the Peace Council to deliver on its mandate, which ultimately is ensuring peace in the country.
Reverend Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman, Governing Board, NPC, said the local theme for the celebration was to allow them to address Ghana’s peculiar challenge of ethnic and tribal sentiments that are gaining root in the country and gradually eroding the peace we have as a people.
He called on Ghanaians, institutions of state, and civil society to join forces to remove barriers to the realization of a just, fair, open, and inclusive society for all the peoples of Ghana.
He appealed to the chiefs and people of the Bawku traditional area to cease fire; declaring that “Nobody gains from protracted conflicts. I am not sure anybody involved in the conflict is happy that children are not in school, the sick cannot access health service, movement of goods and people have been restricted and freedoms curtailed”
Mr Charles Abani, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ghana, said in terms of peace, Ghana was a crown of jewel in the sub-region; adding that Ghana’s peace architecture was a model for other countries to emulate.
Mrs Afi Azaratu Yakubu, Executive Secretary, National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, said small arms and light weapons continue to play a terrible role in robbing the nation of its peace; saying “indeed, small arms and light weapons fuel a lot of our conflicts”.
For the sake of peace, she appealed to Ghanaians to use dialogue in resolving their differences.
The event was attended by members of the Queen Mothers Foundation Ghana and students from Labone Senior High School and Accra High School.
