Ghanaians uncertain of political stability – WANEP
Mr Justin Bayor, National Coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP-Ghana), has observed that many Ghanaians were anxious and uncertain of the political stability of the country due to the ongoing election petition at the Supreme Court.
“The general citizenry is anxious and uncertain of the country’s political stability when the Supreme Court announces its verdict of the presidential election petition… there might emerge pockets of violence, some of which may be between factions of the many unresolved conflicts in the country,” he explained.
Mr Bayor has attributed the rampant markets fire outbreaks in the country to acts of sabotage, and noted that it was a further indicator that some nationally minded processes and events such as the election petition or Court pronouncement over the petition might be used as an opportunity to create other forms of insecurity in the country.
He raised these concerns in statement issued in Tamale on Monday on the national human security early warning brief.
Mr Bayor said the threats had been identified based on quantitative figures recorded from April-June onto GHANAWARN, a security system operated by WANEP and analysed to show broader security implications for communities, groups and the entire country.
He said WANEP’s system recorded a total of 73 incidents of violence and other security concerns out of which 26 were recorded in the Greater Accra Region as the highest score followed by the Ashanti Region with 21 and the Upper East and Northern Regions with lower figure of 5 each.
“The thematic area, which had the highest score, was armed attack with a score of 17 which may be attributable to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the Ghanaian society. It is also followed by arrests and detentions with a score of 16, and disasters with a score of 13,” he said.
Mr Bayor also expressed worry about the increasing violent attacks such as shooting, stabbing, clubbing and butchering in the Ashanti Region.
He said “there are suggestive of targeted attacks and required closer attention; the impunity with which the incidents took place might be negative lessons for like-minded groups if the root causes of the acts are not confronted”.
Mr Bayor appealed to the Ghana National Fire Service and other security agencies to speed up investigations into the devastating fire outbreaks, conduct monitoring and surveillance over the country’s markets and important installations in order to prevent further occurrences.
He called on the National Disaster Management Organisation, the Government and financial institutions to help reduce the economic and social burdens of the victims of the recent fires and their families.
Mr Bayor commended the election petitioners and respondents of the election petition before the Supreme Court for choosing the legal process to resolve the case.
He appealed to them to refrain from statements that could incite their supporters to engage in violent acts when the Court pronounces its judgment on the case.
Source: GNA