President John Dramani Mahama has made a passionate appeal to conflict-hit areas across the country to give peace a chance.
President Mahama noted that as Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah once said, the forces that unite the citizenry were inherently and far greater than the divisions imposed upon them.
Delivering the keynote address at the 68th Independence Day anniversary celebration at the presidency in Accra yesterday, President Mahama said future generations deserved a peaceful country where their dreams and aspirations would be realised.
“The people of Bawku and other areas [where there is conflict]; it is time for lasting peace to prevail.
“Our children deserve to inherit a peaceful land where their dreams are nurtured and not where their nightmares are relived. They deserve to inherit a land where our markets are buzzing with trade and not tension and conflict.
“They deserve to inherit schools that echo with learning and not melancholy,” President Mahama preached.
According to him, it was time conflict-hit areas let bygones be bygones and reconciled for the common good of the country and their respective subjects.
“Let us not be swayed by division, mistrust and a weight of past injuries. Let us give renewal of friendship a chance. Let us give peace a chance,” he said.
The invitation to a lasting peace, he said was not to forget the past but to live above it in the ultimate interest of the country.
President Mahama’s call for peace comes on the back of renewed chieftaincy clashes between warring factions in Bawku and Nkwanta.
Having assumed office, President Mahama has been to Bawku and Nalerigu to broker peace between the Mamprusis and Kusasis.
His national security coordinator has also visited Nkwanta following a renewed clash which left at least 10 people dead in January.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
