The Peace Council Squirms

Rev Emmanuel Asante

The Ghana Peace Council has squirmed after a long lull. The Council is reported to have expressed worry about the disquiet in Kumawu, a concern we all share as Ghanaians.

For every flash which has the potential of developing into strife, relevant state institutions such as the Peace Council and indeed all Ghanaians, must show not only concern, but also take actions that can nip this in the bud.

Now we are hard-pushed not to regard the Council as a body selective in the areas which it wades into. Our concern is informed by the indifference or apathy of the Council towards more critical issues about which an early intervention could save nine. Maintaining 'hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil' posture over some subjects but not so for others does not cast the Council in good light.

The level of deference it needs to command so it can perform its statutory functions has been lost. Indeed, after a long lull there are only a few Ghanaians who remember the Council, let alone ascribe any credit to it.

Having gone into hibernation since the curtains were drawn over the election petition hearing, it is one institution which must redefine its approach to national issues so that the goal of attaining national cohesion and unity would be attained.

We recall the incessant counsel it gave Ghanaians on the importance of peace and the need to preserve the virtue in the country. Those were the days when three Ghanaians went to court over their disagreement with the results of the 2012 presidential election.

Unfortunately, its crusade was one-sided – directed mainly at the plaintiffs to as it were, let bygone be bygone.

At a time when all the opportunities are available to prevent the kind of tension which characterized the last election and pushed the country to the brink, the Council is yet to appreciate the importance of electoral reforms, especially how these can prevent the kind of situation we found ourselves in during and after the last presidential polls.

For it to therefore wake up from a long slumber and express concern about the Kumawu and other chieftaincy crisis for us, sounds hypocritical and obscenely selective.

It is not enough to use the media to express  so-called concerns when electoral reforms about which all civil society organizations and majority of Ghanaians are yearning for, justifiably so, are pushed to the backburners by the Council.

The Ghana Peace Council must adopt a fresh operating manual away from the previous one which has proven useless and of no use in a Ghana badly in need of electoral reforms pleas, which have so far fallen on deaf ears at the Electoral Commission and therefore constituting potential source of future ado.