Dagbon Factions Told To Give Peace A Chance

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, has appealed to the parties in the Dagbon conflict to allow the road map to peace to work to its logistical conclusion.

He also entreated the leadership of the two gates Abudu and Andani to bury their differences and embrace peace for the betterment of the future.

Alhaji Idris made the appeal at the opening ceremony of a three-day workshop on capacity building on peace in Tamale on Wednesday.

The workshop which was attended by members of the Regional Security Council, District Chief Executives, opinion leaders and other stakeholders in peace building, was organised by Assemblies of God Relief and Development Service (AGREDS) Ghana.

The minister's appeal came in the wake of rumours that one of the gates was the fed-up with the process and was issuing threats.

Alhaji Idris said violent conflicts were hindering the socio-economic development of the region, stressing that it was source of drain of valuable human, material and financial resources that otherwise could have been harnessed for accelerated development.

He lauded the purpose of the workshop, saying that the task of mitigating conflicts and ensuring development, far exceeded the capacity and resource of any actors, be it government, civil society or traditional authorities hence the need for collaboration and cooperation of all.

Alhaji Idris therefore asked the participants to take the workshop seriously and build upon their skills in order to be able to identify potential threats to peace and security early enough and develop measures to counteract such tendencies.

He also urged them not to concentrate only on conflict management but also sharpen their skills on conflicts prevention.

Rev. Moses Sumaila, Assistant Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church stated that the workshop constituted the organisation's contribution toward ensuring peace and unity in the area.

He said there can never be any meaningful development in an area where there was no peace hence the urgent need to build the capacity of players in ensuring peace and security.

He stated that the numerous conflict situations in the area accounted for the acute poverty prevailing in the region.

Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Arongo, Anglican Bishop of Tamale, said that it was time for the people of the area to adopt dialogue to resolve their differences rather than stick to violence.