Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, NPP MP for Afigya Sekyere West, on Tuesday said the dangerous mistrust between the two major ethnic groups in Ghana must be tackled to ensure harmony and tranquillity in the country.
He said over the years, acrimony between Akans and Ewes had been swept under the carpet but “if we do not resolve it now could break up the country.
Mr Kan-Dapaah who was contributing to the motion to have the Peace Council Bill 2010 read a second time said: “Let’s have the courage to confront this problem.”
The bill seeks to establish the National Peace Council to promote peace in the country against the background of the intermittent ethnic clashes over minor infractions which could have been solved amicably rather than resort to armed conflicts.
He said people from each of this ethnic grouping confirmed they had very good friends from the other group but generally they were on each other’s throat.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said the country was replete with political and ethnic conflicts and expressed hope that the bill would help solve these problems.
Mr William Ofori Boafo, NPP member for Akropong –Akwapim, said the council must not be made to suffer the lack of resource syndrome that could jeopardise its mandate.
He noted that the council must affiliate with the World Peace Council in order to legitimise its operations.
He called for the formation of peace clubs in various schools to inculcate the culture of peace in children.
Mr Harona Iddrisu, Minister for Communication, said the country had experienced numerous chieftaincy disputes which according to him, was mostly caused by unqualified persons trying to usurp traditional power.
He said Ghana must fight for things that united the country than things that divide it adding that Ghanaians must not take the peace in the country for granted.
He called on all Ghanaians not to compromise the commitment of country to democracy.
Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang NPP member for New Juabeng North, said most Ghanaians did not have peace even in their homes, saying it was very difficult to a maintain peaceful atmosphere and hoped the bill when passed into law would aid national peace at all levels.
“Its time for Ghanaians to accept that Ghana is the only country we have” and called on major political parties especially NPP and NDC to be non partisan in their dealings.
Mr Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader, said it was not enough to have legal framework in dealing with peace issues and called for placing men and women of integrity on the council.
He said the council must provide the country with early warning signs to nip conflicts in the bud.
He said the independence of the council from political and other interference was absolutely necessary and should so.
The Chairman, Committee of Defence and Interior, Alhaji Sumani Abubakari, in a report presented to the House, said Ghana was currently perceived as a stable country but in a very volatile region which he noted called for the demonstration that Ghana had learnt some important lessons from the experiences of the conflict ravaged neighbouring countries.
He said though Ghana was peaceful, there were myriads of conflicts, many of them threatening the democracy of the country.
“Our responses to these conflicts have at best been reactive”, he said, adding, Ghana had maintained a peacekeeping presence in the communities affected by conflicts without being able to resolve the issues at stake.
He said at the national level inter and intra group conflicts had raged at different times without an acceptable mechanism for quick and timely responses to these conflicts adding that these approaches were not sustainable.
Alhaji Sumani said when the bill is passed, it would empower the Peace Council to facilitate the development of mechanisms for cooperation among stakeholders in peace building in Ghana.