The Bole Municipal office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has gone on board with a peace-keeping message coupled with an engagement with political party youth activists in Bole, on the 14th of November, 2024.
Madam Margret A. Konlan, the Bole Municipal Director for NCCE, welcomed everyone present and expressed her heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made it a point to honour their invitation to the programme.
Addressing the audience on the issue at hand, she gave a resoundind reminder on the fact that election is fast approaching and there is the need to uphold peace every now and then.
According to the Director, the programme was proudly sponsored by the European Union in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education.
She made it known that the program simply targets the youth because the youth are the highest democratic group, and they also play very critical roles in shaping the political landscape of the country.
Reverend Father Lazarus Annyereh, the chairperson of the Savannah Regional Peace Council gave an excellent submission on “Violent Extremism”.
Speaking to the audience, he made it clear that war goes beyond shooting and killing, especially during elections, and urged everyone to avoid activities that breed war and distort peace.
“War brings fear, war is lack of access to health facilities, people become helpless and hopeless, war is losing parents, war is losing a husband, war is losing your loved ones and war is creating an entire generation who are illiterates”, he added.
He elaborated on Violent Extremism coupled with Terrorism, Radicalization, Jihadism and Islamism, considering their similarities in nature.
He further highlighted some of the tricks that extremists utilise in order to attract more members which included using political parties for their personal gains, giving out money to people with the aim of getting them radicalised, brainwashing people, using propaganda and many others.
He again emphasized on the need for us to be super vigilant as Ghanaians considering the porous nature of our borders and how weak our security system has become.
He fished out poverty, low human development, unemployment, bad governance which include marginalisation of the youth and limited confidence in state institutions as the main factors that extremists use as fertile grounds to initiate violent extremism.
As an individual who prioritises peace, he gave comprehensive statistics on issues concerning violent extremism for the years back and urged the audience to avoid activities that will invite extremists into our country.
A Detective Inspector from the office of the Bole Municipal police station, Madam Anim Mary, together with her colleagues, educated all members present on legal approaches that are being utilised by the police to tackle “Misinformation”, “Disinformation”, and as well as “Voter Inducements” especially during elections.
source: yagbonradioonline/Seidu Salima
