News
2-day conflict resolution workshop ends in Wa
Speaker addressing participants
The Director in charge of Capacity Development and Outreach at the National Peace Council, Mrs Janet Sarney-Kuma has assured that the council is working hard to prevent violence before, during and after the 2024 general election.
She, therefore, called on stakeholders to work together to have a peaceful election and a peaceful transition devoid of violence, destruction of property or loss of innocent lives.
Mrs Sarney-Kuma gave the assurance in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a two-day training programme at Dorimon in the Wa West District for traditional and religious leaders on conflict resolution, negotiation and confidence building for effective conflict management at the community level.
The three-year project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Atlantic Corridor Project is being implemented across three conflict prone regions namely; North-East, Upper East and Upper West regions.
The Director in charge of Capacity Development and Outreach noted that the Peace Council was doing a lot including quarterly meetings with the political parties in Accra which they hope to extend to the regions.
Mr Emmanuel Danyomah, the Executive Secretary of the Upper West Regional Peace Council, urged religious and traditional leaders to understand the dynamics of conflict before initiating action to resolve them.
“Understanding the need, rationale, cultural dynamics of a conflict among others will enable you analyse the conflict properly and take the appropriate actions to resolve it”, he said.
He also pleaded with them to always shelve their emotions and deal with the truth, adding that it was only when they detach their emotions from the conflict that they could act appropriately in resolving the conflict.
Rev. Fr. Dr. Moses Banungwiiri, the Archdeacon of the Anglican Church in Wa and the Chairman of the Upper West Regional Peace Council admonished chiefs and religious leaders to endeavour to speak the truth to help maintain peace in their communities.
Naa Bawa Seidu Seidu, the Chief of Duasi lauded the Peace Council for the programme, saying the knowledge shared would help them in resolving conflicts when they come up.
According to him, many conflicts would not have existed today if they were properly handled by the mediators.
From Rafia Abdul Razak, Wa