“The National Peace Council is not a fire service to be killing fire. We try to do our work by peaceful engagement behind closed doors, it is not everything that we come to the open and say that ‘we are talking to this person’”, the Chairperson of the Greater Accra Regional Peace Council and Accra Diocese Bishop of the Methodist Church, Rt Rev. Samuel Kofi Osabutey has said.
His comment comes after a section of the public called on the council to act in the wake of pockets of violence that characterised the announcement of the president’s MMDCEs list, to ensure it does not escalate during their confirmation.
Areas like Odododiodioo, Chereponi, Tema West and others recorded some level of violence as angry New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters vandalised party property in protest of the president’s choices for their respective MMDAs.
Rt. Rev Osabutey speaking on the occasion of the International Day of Peace in Accra on Tuesday, 21 September 2021 said their regional offices are handling the situation.
He said: “Something is happening within the region. My chairman has said that we are on top of the job, we’ve tried to call a few people, we’re trying to find out from the agencies of government how it even arrived and beyond that, to talk about the processes.
“So the peace council is not a fire killer, we go there and look at the deep issues and send a paper to the government through our national board. It was not just the tyre that they were burning unnecessarily but even the process and it all boils down to the fact that people have patronage.”
In his attempt to explain why some party members are agitating and unhappy about the President’s nominees, Rt. Rev Osabutey noted that “in the Accra issue, if I lose my current mayor from whom I gain something, I’m not too sure the one who is coming is going to be helpful to me so I must do everything to make sure that either he is reelected or reappointed or if he is also not satisfying me then I must make sure that he/she goes…”
For his part, Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi reiterated that their regional offices are engaging interested parties to avert any eventuality.
“I think sometimes when issues arise in the country many people call on the national board of the national peace council but I want to draw attention to the fact that the peace council has regional peace councils in every region and also two districts so when issues arise depending on where it is, the regional peace council takes over and act on those things then they report to us at the national office, so our regional peace councils are engaged in it as far as those issues are concerned and when we have enough information we will let the public know,” he stated.
Source: Classfmonline.com/Emmanuel Mensah
