Yendi needs peace

Page 7: Daily Graphic, April 24, 2012. PEACE and harmony has evaded the beautiful Yendi municipality from March 2003 to date. Since that time, there have been a number of interventions by the government and non-state actors to restore peace to that part of the country. Regrettably, when all seem to be going well for the peacemakers, skirmishes erupt to disrupt the process. A similar incident occurred at the weekend when a young man was shot during disturbances between two rival factions following an enskinment ceremony. This cannot be the best of news for anyone, especially when the country is in a crucial year of elections in which we need peace and stability to ensure success during the polls in December 2012. What is even worrying is the fact that the conflict is among members of the same family. It is in this vein that we believe that all Dagbon people must heed the call by former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama for indigenes of Dagbon to bury the hatchet, forgive each other and chart the way forward for the betterment of all of them. t is obvious that the continuous division of the people along chieftaincy and political party lines was not only drawing the area backwards but also poisoning the minds of the youth who are being used by some selfish individuals and groups to achieve their ambitions. We think that but for this decade-old conflict, Yendi would have been way ahead of its current development and also attracted much more investment to the area. The consequences of this family conflict should be clear to all the members by now. The Daily Graphic agrees that it is difficult to forget some of the pain or hurt we experience in our lives, but we need not also forget that vengeance is in the hands of the Lord or Allah. That is why we think that the people of Yendi must allow peace and harmony to reign in their land. That way, they can harness their energies and resources to develop the area and reduce poverty and disease. We should not allow the devil to find jobs for the idle hands in the area. We need to remind ourselves that without the requisite peace and stability, investors, whose investments are greatly needed to shore up development and create employment, will not invest in the area. By establishing the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), the government is seeking to bridge the development gap between the north and south. But it appears the efforts of the government will not be recognisable fruits if we allow conflict to take the better part of us. We need to reckon that the common enemy of the north is personified in poverty, disease and squalor and chieftaincy or political misunderstandings. We, therefore, urge our brothers and sisters to appreciate this fact and come together to marshall their energies, expertise and resources to deal with the common enemy. The Daily Graphic appreciates that as human beings, we have our differences but differences in opinion and on political or chieftaincy grounds should not set us against each other. The rapid decline of the Ghana Cedi has been attributed to rising political tension as there is a mad rush for the dollar due to the uncertainty associated with the forthcoming December 2012 polls. Besides, we have been warned that no investor will invest in areas where there is protracted conflict. Ghana needs peace to get out of its development challenges and we believe all have a role to play no matter where we find ourselves.