Ghana: Proliferation of Arms, Source of Northern Conflict
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Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
5 September 2008
Posted to the web 5 September 2008
Edmond Gyebi
Tamale
The government has attributed the instability in the North, and more especially the recent violence in Tamale and Gushiegu, to the massive proliferation of firearms in the possession of private individuals.
According to the Interior Minister, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, government, through the security agencies, would, sooner than later, embark on an intensive arm retrieving exercise in all the troubled areas in the north, to ensure the total peace and security of the people.
The Minister was addressing an emergency meeting with religious and political leaders in Tamale, as part of measures to restore peace in Tamale, ahead of the December elections.
The Minister of Defence Kan Dapaah, Information Minister Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Dr. Sam Amoh, National Security Coordinator, and Nana Obiri Boahene, Minister of State at the Interior Ministry, were present at the meeting.
Also in attendance were the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Iddris, Tamale Mayor, Mohammed Anim Adam, Tamale South member of Parliament (MP). Haruna Iddrisu, and Tamale North MP, Abubakari Sumani.
Dr. Addo Kufuor stated that government was very much concerned about the ongoing skirmishes, which have claimed lives and property.
He, therefore, called on all stakeholders, to assist the security agencies retrieve all illegal firearms in private hands, before they spelt the doom of this country.
The Interior Minister charged the police to deal with those found to have broken the law, regardless of their ethnic or political afflictions. He said the government would also strive to ensure that the coming elections would be conducted in a free, fair and transparent atmosphere.
The Alhaji Mustapha Ali Iddris, who condemned the recent clash between supporters of National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also entreated the leadership of the party to guide and monitor the activities of their followers.
He also pledged the readiness of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), of which he is the Chairman, to ensure that there was peace in the entire northern region.
Dr. Addo Kufuor, and his team of security experts, also engaged the religious and the political leaders in a two-hour closed-doors meeting.
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The Chronicle, however, gathered that the agenda for the meeting was to find or solicit the way forward in ensuring lasting peace, and peaceful elections in the north.
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Copyright © 2008 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
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