THE President of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs, Nayiri Na Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga, has entreated the Regional Security Council and District Security Committees in the region to, as a matter of urgency, formulate effective strategies to stem violent conflicts in the area.
The region, he stressed, needed peace and, therefore, urged all stakeholders to join in the peace efforts to make the region a safe haven for investment and accelerated development.
“I register my displeasure at the recent political clashes in Tamale and Gushiegu, which resulted in the loss of lives and property,” Na Sheriga stressed.
The Nayiri expressed the concern at a meeting of the house in Tamale during which issues such as peace efforts, development challenges and chieftaincy matters were discussed.
He urged the police to act professionally by bringing the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book.
According to Na Sheriga, the media, political parties, the security agencies, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Electoral Commission, religious bodies, chiefs and the government had a stake in the peace process.
He noted that traditional rulers in the region would spare no efforts to help the government and the security agencies in the maintenance of peace.
“It is a truism that no meaningful development can take place in an area without peace and stability; we need development and must work to achieve peace to ensure progress,” he noted.
Na Sheriga stated that the seriousness he attached to peace in the region “propelled me to create a forum for discourse recently with some stakeholders, including political parties, the youth chiefs, the police, the Electoral Commission and religious leaders”.
He announced that the House had been able to dispose of one case this year, that is, the Buipe Skin issue, adding that there were seven other cases pending before it.
Na Sheriga, however, stated that funding for judicial committees was a major challenge to the House.
The Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, advised the chiefs to live above partisan politics and rather be development oriented.
“Na President, chiefs should unite their people to fight against the common enemies of poverty, ignorance and underdevelopment; in that regard, I would encourage the traditional rulers to serve as catalyst to identify their development needs and source funding to execute them,” Alhaji Idris stressed.
He urged traditional rulers to be judicious in land management, emphasising, “Our chiefs should be wary of the activities of quack surveyors who are contributing to the spate of disputes in land administration”.
Touching on the Dagbon chieftaincy issue, the regional minister made a passionate appeal to the two gates in the chieftaincy divide to exercise restraint and adhere to the road map to peace drawn up by the Committee of Eminent Chiefs.
No comments:
Post a Comment