Don’t Undermine Ghana’s Peace With Reckless Statements – Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu

Ghanaians have been asked not to undermine the relative peace the country is enjoying with careless statements and comments.

Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Director, of the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) also called on the nation to do all it could to strengthen peace and not assume that “because peace is with us it would definitely stay.”

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu who gave the advice at a public lecture dubbed: “Twenty-three (23) Years after the Rwanda War: Lessons for Ghana’s Social and Ethno-political Environment”, cautioned the public, saying, “Watch your mouth and the things you say and gather the courage to condemn those who want to destroy the peace.”

The lecture, which was organised by Hubert H. Humphrey Alumni Association Ghana Chapter and LECIAD, brought together students, lecturers and some senior Military Officers.

Prof. Mensa Bonsu said it was only when law and order had broken down that those reckless comments, statements and acts persisted.

The Director of LECIAD, who described peace “as an organism” explained that it could grow and die if not nurtured well by all.

On the proliferation of arms in the Sub-region, Prof. Mensa-Bonsu said the issue should be of concern to all countries, noting that recently Nigeria had complained over the spate of arms supply from Turkey.

“There are a lot of small arms circulating and nobody is doing anything seriously about, it except that there are a few exaltations over the issue,” she said.

“With your current status, can you imagine your refugee status in another country?”

She noted that the overspill of arms could extend to Ghana and, therefore, appealed to it be security conscious.

“Security is not about professionals; but it is about everybody. We all must open our eyes.” Prof. Mensa-Bonsu urged countries not to see the gathering of intelligence as a dirty game; noting that intelligence gathering played a vital role in peace keeping.

She explained that it was for that reason that the United Nations established the Information gathering Centre towards that direction.

Alhaji Sulemana Mahama, President of the Hubert H. Humphrey Alumni Association, Ghana Chapter, noted that the Association was concerned with the recent developments arising from the practice of democratic rights.

Alhaji Mahama observed that Ghana was known to have enjoyed some relative peace in the West African sub-region despite the incidence of war in other countries.

This notwithstanding, he noted, that there had been several incidence of violent conflicts as result of chieftaincy; land tenure and acquisition challenges; and historical disputes that had found their way into the political arena that often times led to serious actions and divisiveness.

He said economic deprivation in some communities had also often times created social tensions and increased unemployment among the youth.

“Those conditions could provide a veritable source of sparking off conflict in different parts of the country,” he said.

“The increase in political intolerance emanating from intra and inter political party disputes, as observed in the recent appointment of district political officers and selection of parliamentary candidates for election constitute the different strands of conflict that could derail the country.”

Alhaji Mahama said the lecture was, therefore, to create a platform to create awareness on the need to tone down the socio-political tensions, which could provide conducive atmosphere for conflicts.

He said the lecture also aimed at recommending alternative methods of addressing challenges by choosing reconciliation.

By: ghananewsagency.org