Youth groups in the Garu district of the Upper East Region have resolved to use dialogue and non-violence to solve differences in the community.
The move is to help deepen the prevailing peace in the area, strengthen unity among the people, work together to support security agencies in preventing violent extremism and achieve sustainable development.
The youth groups made the commitment at Garu when the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), with funding support from the European Union, engaged them on how to prevent and contain violent extremism in their communities.
The engagement was part of the commission’s awareness creation and sensitisation efforts dubbed, “Preventing and containing violent extremism (PCVE),” aimed at curbing the crime through the promotion of social cohesion, peace and tolerance in Northern Ghana.
Jackson Saaga, the chairman of the groups’ executives, said various factors like religious convictions, political ideologies and prejudices against specific ethnic groups often serve as drivers of these crimes, threatening their communities.
The youths emphasised that ensuring peace and security in their respective communities and the entire country, is the responsibility of all stakeholders. They pledged to work together to identify promptly and report suspected activities of violent extremists to security agencies.
“We have agreed to watch out for suspicious characters who are not known in our communities and report them to lawful agencies or our community leaders.
“We have agreed to share the emergency numbers with our community members such as: police (191), fire service (192), emergency contact (112) and national security (999),” they said.
Samuel Atando Akolgo, the Garu district director of NCCE, explained that the engagement would inculcate in the youth the spirit of patriotism, awareness of civic responsibilities, inclusive values and social recognition. It would also invoke a sense of belonging to their immediate community.
Akolgo added that, it would also improve youths’ knowledge and attitude on the culture of tolerance and non-violence to become ambassadors for peace. The engagement would further help the youth to positively contribute to promoting peaceful coexistence and shun violent extremism in Ghana.
He advised the youth against joining violent extremists who might try to lure and recruit them into their groups to cause mayhem.
Osman Musah, the district chief executive for Garu, indicated that activities of violent extremists and terrorist attacks across some African countries, especially in Ghana’s neighbouring countries, serve as a continuous reminder of the threat that terrorism poses to people’s livelihoods.
“I made a solemn promise to the youth that the government would take the necessary measures to preserve their safety and security. We recognise that we must prevent and combat violent extremist groups and terrorists who threaten the security of our country, and protect our national interests from such attacks,” he said.
Musah encouraged the youth to work together with state and non-state actors to be properly prepared to prevent and counter any form of terrorism in Ghana.
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