NPC, Security Council strategise on all forms of conflict

The National Peace Council (NPC) and the National Security Council have called on political, religious and traditional leaders to get involved in the effort to rid the country of all forms of conflict.

After a closed-door meeting in Accra, the two institutions expressed concern about the pockets of conflict and the proliferation of small arms in the country and called on the various leaders to use the influence they exerted over their followers to educate the people, particularly the youth, on the need to avoid violence.

Members of the NPC who attended the meeting were the Chairman and Catholic Bishop of Cape Coast, Peter Cardinal Appiah-Turkson; the vice-Chairman and Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana, Maulvi Wahab Adam; the founder and leader of the International Central, Gospel Church, Pastor Mensa-Otabil; the Catholic Bishop of Ho, Most Reverend Francis Lodonu; a history lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof Irene Odotei; and a former General-Secretary of .the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Madam Georgina Baiden.

Also present were the Executive Secretary of the Mr P. K. Opoku-Mensah, and the Research Officer of the council, Mr Emmanuel Sowatey.

The national security team was led by the National Security Co-ordinator, Mr Larry Gbevlo Lartey.

Briefing the Daily Graphic on the discussions at the meeting, Mr Sowatey said the aim was to formally introduce the council to the National Security Co-ordinator and his staff and see how best the two parties could work together to promote peace in the country.

He said the NPC members briefed Mr Lartey on what the council had done in the past and what it intended to do in the future as a politically neutral organisation with the principal aim of fostering peace and national development.

Mr Sowatey said the two parties were unanimous on the need for Parliament to pass the NPC Bill to give legitimacy to the council in view of the important role it was playing in the promotion of peace in the country.

Members of the council also held a separate meeting with the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, to discuss issues relating to the welfare of women and children.

The meeting, at the instance of the minister, focused on United Nations (UN) Resolution 1325, which highlights the vulnerability of women and children in conflict situations and the need to factor their roles in peace ini¬tiatives.

Mr Sowatey said the NPC members briefed the minister on the council's interventions in line with UN Resolution 1325, citing a number of programmes initiated by the council to support women and children affected in the Bawku conflict

He said the NPC expressed concern about the proliferation of small arms in the country, many of which were either not registered or whose licences had expired.

Mr Sowatey said conflicts were deadly, mostly because of the use of small arms, adding that under such circumstances, women and children became the most vulnerable.

He appealed to people who owned small arms to endeavour to register their weapons, while calling on those whose licences had expired to renew them.