EDITORIAL: Give Peace A Chance

Peace is one most essential prerequisite for any human endeavour. Therefore, anytime the peace of a community, town, city, nation or geographical area is disturbed, it leads to major dislocations.

It becomes even more devastating when peace is compromised to the extent that lives and properties are lost and vandalised. Examples abound in the West African sub-region where religious, ethnic and election-related disputes have plunged countries such as Cote d' Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone into chaos to the extent that post-war reconstruction continues to be their bane.

There are also examples across Africa and elsewhere which are not pleasant to recount in view of the cost and price those countries continue to pay, in addition to the loss of precious lives.

Evidence of such wanton and heartless acts of lawlessness is the many amputees, orphans and other victims on the streets in some of the affected countries, notably Sierra Leone.

This self-inflicted destruction which continues to affect our development pales into insignificance the harm caused to Africa, by the developed world, admitted by the former Prime Minister of Britain, Mr Tony Blair in his words “The state of underdevelopment of the developing world, especially Africa remains a scar on the conscience of the developed world”.

It is against this background that the DAILY GRAPHIC devotes its editorial today to the suggestion by Rev Dr Patrick Quainoo, Head Pastor of the International Christian Faith Ministries in Accra, for the holding of an Emergency National Consultative Stakeholders Summit to fashion a road map for the fourthcoming national elections.

The paper believes that apart from being timely, the call resonates the thinking of Ghanaians who genuinely would want to see a united Ghana still championing the cause of freedom of choice of their leaders after the December 2012 polls.

Everybody in the country, be he or she a politician, labourer, student, journalist, lawyer, nurse, an artisan, or any other citizen , needs peace to carry out their daily activities. Politicians, in particular, know very well that without peace, they cannot criss-cross the nooks and crannies of the country to carry out their political campaigns leading to the casting of ballots on December 7, 2012.

The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, considers the suggestion by the eminent cleric as appropriate, and needs to be considered. Furthermore, it endorses the advice to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) members to back their words with deeds instead of operating as a talk shop.

It is wellknown that when it comes to violence, the major perpetrators hide behind the vulnerable youth, who are the major players, to commit the crime to the detriment of their own kith and kin with the aged women and children being the most affected victims.