Peace Council unhappy about unjustifiable politicisation
The National Peace Council (NPC) says it is unhappy about the unjustifiable politicisation of the Council which is an affront to the NPC Act 2011 (Act 818).
“The Peace Council has been a victim of politicization, is still a victim and will continue to be a victim”, Alhaji Suallah Abdallah Quandah, the Bono Regional Executive Secretary of the NPC stated.
“We are in this country where political parties and party communicators vilify or praise the Council, depending on where the Parties find themselves either in political power or opposition”, he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani.
Alhaji Quandah regretted the level of politicisation in the country had bred discontent, marginalisation, and injustice to national peace and security.
He said it was unfortunate implementation of some laudable government policies which had enormous benefits to the nation was often politicised, saying “successive governments do not want to involve or consult the opposition in formulating such policies”.
“Governments do not open up for broader consultation and participation and the outcome of these policies and programmes do not impact the lives of people”.
“In fact, where the opposition is given the chance to participate, they are so dishonest that they try to use the public against the government to gain political advantage in the next election”, he added.
Describing such practices as affront to democracy and threatening peace and security in the country, Alhaji Quandah said “we are all witnessing parliamentary business. It is all about their political parties and not the good people of Ghana”.
“Because of that, honorable MPs engaged in dishonourable activities such as snatching and chewing of ballot papers, kicking ballot boxes, attacking the Speaker’s seat and the greatest of all, engaging in fisticuffs”.
“In fact, such a low blow in our democracy threatened peace and stability”, Alhaji Quandah stated, urging the political class to be fair in their dealings with the citizenry, if they really meant well for the good people of the country.
“The politicisation in our political space is posing a great threat to our peace and it is about time that we appreciate diversity in the country and see the views and political affiliations of those that are different from ours as “alternatives” and not “opponents”.
He said though Ghana had been ranked 38th in the global peace index, and first in West Africa and second in Africa, there were still conflicts and threats to peace which had not turned into violence.
“The Bono Region is bedeviled with chieftaincy, political and resource-based issues such as land disputes. Out of the 18 paramountcies in the region, eight are in disputes or conflict, mainly caused by disagreements over succession”, Alhaji Qaundah indicated.
Source: GNA