Group to work for peace at 10 flashpoints in Northern Region
The Centre for Development and Policy Advocacy (CEDEPA), a Tamale-based civil society organisation, will move into 10 constituencies in the Northern Region which have been identified as hotspots to directly engage with the youth groups and train them on election grievance management procedures, peace building and conflict prevention mechanisms.
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The 10 hotspots are the Tamale South, Tamale Central, Tamale North, Sagnarigu, Tolon, Bimbilla, Wulensi, Yendi, Gushegu and the Chereponi constituencies.
The Executive Director of CEDEPA, Mr Ziblim Alhassan, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum held in Tamale on the theme: “The Role of the Youth in Promoting a Peaceful Election 2016” as part of its youth engagement for a peaceful election 2016 project.
He said the decision to engage directly with the youth was based on the fact that the youth formed an integral part of a peaceful election and they were the vulnerable group of the country’s population that politicians and political parties often exploited or engaged to foment trouble, hence the decision to engage them to ensure peace before, during and after the election.
Hotspots in Northern Region
It would be recalled that the Electoral Commission (EC) had identified 81 constituencies out of the 275 as possible violence-prone areas before, during and after the 2016 general election and the Northern Region have 13 of the flashpoints.
The constituencies in the Northern Region that have been identified as violence-prone areas are Walewale, Gushegu, Tolon, Sagnarigu, Tamale North, Tamale South, Tamale Central, Bimbilla, Wulensi, Yendi, Salaga North and Salaga South.
Speaking at the forum which was attended by various youth groups from the Tamale South, Tamale Central, Sagnarigu and Tolon constituencies, Mr Alhasan said the forum formed part of the project to promote participatory democracy and good governance in the country which were anchored on a peaceful, free and fair election.
“As we move closer to a very tense electioneering season, we recognise the potential as the youth to foment trouble but also to make the peace that we all desire. Therefore, as the theme for the forum suggests, our purpose is to brainstorm, generate stakeholder consensus on the need for peace and to fashion common modalities and pathways for promoting a peaceful Election 2016,”the executive director stated.
The youth and violence
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Abdallah Abubakari, in a speech read on his behalf by the Regional Budget Officer, Mr Peter Owusu Frimpong, called on the youth to renounce all forms of violence as this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections got closer.
He also called on the various security agencies in the region and Ghana as a whole to be firm, fair and professional in their dealings with all stakeholders to ensure a peaceful Election 2016, adding that peace and security were no longer the exclusive responsibility for governments but a shared one.
