NDC, NPP YOUTH LAUNCH PEACE INITIATIVE IN WA (PAGE 16, NOV 6)

A peace initiative to spearhead the resolution of conflicts in the three northern regions in particular, and other parts of the country, has been launched in Wa, the Upper West regional capital.
The initiative, seeks to bring together executive of the University for Development Studies (UDS) branches of the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network (TEIN) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as ambassadors for peace.
Launching it, a Deputy Minister of Information Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, said most of the conflicts in the country had political undertones, therefore, using people from both political divide, to act as mediators in conflicts will go a long way to heal wounds.
“With this peace initiative, we are going to ask leaders of the TEIN and TESCON to go into conflict areas, especially Bawku and preach to the youth about the effects of conflicts and also not to allow themselves to be used to foment trouble,” Mr Ablakwa explained.
He advised the youth to shun conflicts which took political dimensions and rather go to such areas to talk to the people to drop their weapons.
“What is happening in Bawku, for instance, is very regrettable and unacceptable; unfortunately it is young people who are being used,” he stated.
Mr Ablakwa said the initiative could be replicated by all other peace loving institutions and even within political parties to reduce tension and to eradicate conflicts which are retarding the development of the regions.
He described the Upper West Region as very peaceful and was full of praise for the people for sustaining the peace.
Commenting on the state of the media in the region, Mr Ablakwa who paid a visit to the television transmission station of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) at Han, in the Jirapa district, expressed regret about the neglect of the station since it was commissioned almost 20 years ago.
He promised to ensure that media institutions in the region were properly resourced to go about their duties effectively.