Northern Regional Peace Council Charged To Be Impartial

Northern Regional Minister

The Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna has charged the newly inaugurated Northern Regional Peace Council (NRPC) to avoid any form of political, ethnic and religious bias in the discharge of their duties during their tenure of office.

“All of you members either belong to a particular religion, a particular tribe or a particular sect. Please remove those your caps. You’re a member of the Regional Peace Council and you must bring your expertise to bear. I’ll not hesitate to recommend the withdrawal of any member who will try to use your office in your own interest”, Alhaji Limuna warned as he addressed the inauguration of the 10-member Council in Tamale.

The Minister also admonished them against interfering in the work of the police trying to cajole or coerce them to release perpetrators of crime all in the name of peace, adding that, “as much as we need peace, fomenters of trouble must be made to face the law so that it will serve as deterrent to others”, he emphasised.

A Board Member of the National Peace Council (NPC) Sheik Mahmoud Gedel who swore-in members of the NRPC, charged them to prevent and reconcile factions involved in conflict in the region in order to promote peace for sustainable development.

He also urged them to work hard to consolidate the relative peace in the area and promote national unity, citing that recent clashes between Bimoba and Konkomba ethnic groupings in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District as well as the alleged murder of the overlord of Bimbilla, to some extent, have derailed successes chalked in peace efforts in the region.

Sheik Gedel told the Council that they have a responsibility of playing an advisory role to the Northern Regional Security Council in matters of peacebuilding and conflict prevention as well as educating the public on the need to cultivate peace.

The NPC was established by an Act of Parliament (Act 818, 2011) with the mandate to facilitate and develop mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution of disputes to build sustainable peace in the country. By the end of July, all Regional Peace Councils which are subsidiaries of the NPC would have been inaugurated.

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tamale Most Reverend Philip Naameh who is a member of the NRPC, said high illiteracy rate, poverty and underdevelopment of the region and growing perception among some ethnic groups that others are subservient groups to them are the reasons for some of the recurring conflicts in the area which ought to be addressed.

He pledged the unfailing commitment of all members of the NRPC to work hard to ensure that there is lasting peace in all conflict areas of the Northern Region.