STAR-Ghana, in collaboration with the Karaga Peace Ambassadors, has trained Assembly Members in the Karaga District to enable them serve as better mediators in conflicts arising in their respective electoral areas
The one-day training was held at the Karaga District Assembly and had all 48 elected and appointed members of the assembly including unit committee members participated
Northern Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council (NPC) Reverend Father Thaddeus Kuusah, who took the participants through the training, urged Ghanaians, to respect the culture of one another to facilitate peaceful coexistence in communities where different tribes coexisted
Father Thaddeus Kuusah noted that most conflicts recorded in Ghana were related to the disregard for individual customs and traditions that are being held high by the various tribes
The training formed part of the Conflict, Security, and Stability Fund (CSSF) project in Northern Ghana with Funding from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), implemented by the STAR Ghana Foundation in collaboration with the Karaga Peace Ambassadors
The Karaga District over the years has recorded several disturbances arising from farmer-herder conflicts, which mostly led to loss of lives and properties.
The project, therefore, targeted helping the people through education to minimise the recurring farmer-herder disagreement in the District
Father Thaddeus who encouraged the assembly members to be neutral in dealing with parties in conflict, also urged Ghanaians to be peace-loving, and desist from downgrading the cultures of others as it was the leading cost of conflicts in most communities in Ghana
“We need to stop looking down on the cultures of others, every tribe values their culture, and so looking down on their culture, will lead to conflict.”
He urged the assemblymen to ensure they give a listening ear to every party in a conflict without being biased in looking for solutions to those disputes
The project officer in charge of the CSSF, Aaron Atimpe, said the CSSF, was supporting communities and stakeholders at the grassroots level to co-create and co-implement innovative approaches to addressing identified conflict and insecurity issues.
“Under its Conflict Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) Northern Ghana project with funding from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)STAR-Ghana Foundation is supporting 3 districts and 13 communities in northern Ghana to implement community-led approaches to address identified conflict and insecurity issues, and to strengthen stakeholder action at the local level towards peace and security, ty,” he said.
Mr. Aaro said the training was aimed at building the capacities of assemblymen to collaborate with the structures put in place by the project as well as existing structures, to facilitate the resolution of conflicts in the district
He said as part of the CSSF project community monitors were trained and inaugurated to serve as volunteers in resolving conflicts in their communities, and urged the residents to always allow peace to ruin in their areas for development to take place
The District Coordinating Director for the Karaga District, Mr. Alhassan Mahamadu Kamara, on behalf of the district assembly, thanked the STAR-Ghana and the Karaga Peace Ambassadors for the initiatives and urged the assemblymen to be peace ambassadors in their respective areas
On his part, the Coordinator of the Karaga Peace Ambassadors, Baba Kamaldeen, appealed to the people of Karaga to eschew violence and embrace peace so that the area can attain the needed development
Source: ghanaweb.com