They are the Ashanti, Eastern, Greater Accra and Brong Ahafo regions.

 This was indluded in the  latest weekly regional report on the security situation across the country ahead of the general election by the West African Network for Peace Building (WANEP-Ghana) and WANEP.

 The turn of events in the Northern Region was largely attributed to the work and efforts stakeholders in peace building have put in place, such as constant engagement with people perceived to be perpetrating violence.

 The Executive Secretary of the Northern Regional Secretariat of the NPC,  Rev. Fr Thaddeus Kuusah, disclosed this at a civil society organisations’ harmonisation forum, when he presented an overview of the peace situation in the Northern Region in Tamale last Thursday.

 The forum was organised by a non-governmental organisation, leading the civil society platform on good governance.  

Security situation in the North

Rev. Fr Kuusah said the Regional Early Warning and Respond Group (REEWAG), weekly meetings have shown that the security situation in the Northern Region did not appear to be that bad and cautioned stakeholders against painting a gloomy picture about the security situation in the region, since  the region was not in competition with any other region.  

 “Generally, I will say we are getting out of a bad publicity from the media being noted as conflict-prone in the country,” Rev. Fr Kuusah noted.

 “The National Peace Council, while commending the stakeholders, charged NGOs working in the violence-prone areas in the region to ensure that signals of conflicts are reported early before they degenerate into violent confrontations,”  he stated.

 Rev. Fr Kuusah mentioned the Bimbilla chieftaincy case, which is currently at the Supreme Court, the Tamale High Court’s ruling on the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis on  October 28, 2016, that the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai be performed at the old Gbewaa palace as some of the issues which could pose a security threat.  

He said there had been silence since the ruling and urged NGOs working in the areas to keep their eyes on the ground to monitor the situation.

 The council, Rev Fr  Kuusah said, was also monitoring events on the Bunkpurugu land dispute  which, he said, had subsided now due to the rituals both sides performed last year for peace.

 “The conflict is about land and not chieftaincy. The council fears that violence could recur anytime soon and again urged NGOs in those areas to intensify their monitoring efforts,” he noted.

  Rev. Fr Kuusah said the western part of the Northern Region, around Damongo and its environs, where some communities had two chiefs was also a potential source of conflict.

Peace situation in Tamale

 Touching on  Tamale, Rev. Fr  Kuusah said even though the situation looked a little peaceful, the NPC was worried about the menace of vigilante youth groups and the emergence of two musicians in the town, as well as the activities of Internet fraudsters, popularly called ‘’Sakawa’’ boys.

 Their activities, he noted, had security implications which needed urgent attention.

Lack of funding

 Rev. Fr Kuusah noted that  the lack of funding and logistics such as vehicles was hampering the work of the council in the region and appealed for more financial support to assist it to deliver on its mandate.

 He noted that ensuring peace in the region and the country as a whole should be a continuous process and not only in an election year.