The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the Shama District of Western Region has educated the youth in the district on National Cohesion and Inclusive Participation in Governance.
The workshop, organised under the auspices of the Ministry of National Security was on the theme ‘Empowering Ghanaians to Stand for National Cohesion and Inclusive Participation’, had film shows to depict the bad implications of insurgence activities.
Mr Justice Ennin, the Western Regional Director of NCCE said educating Ghanaians on the importance of the 1992 Constitution was the cardinal objective of the Commission.
He said creating the necessary opportunities for the youth to get acquainted with their rights, responsibilities, and obligations as enshrined in the Constitution would help build a prosperous and peaceful nation.
Mr Ennin further encouraged the participants to consider the need to abstain from engaging in unlawful activities that could compromise the country’s security.
Retired Captain Hansen Obu, the Regional Security Coordinator, explained that violent activities by the secessionist group tended to create insecurity in the country, destabilised governance, restrict movement, and affected the effective functioning of both local and central government.
He further warned that violent extremism and terrorism activities should not be countenanced because it caused fear and apprehension among the citizenry and affected quality of life, which could undermine and cast an irredeemable slur on the reputable image of the country.
Retired Captain Obu charged the various stakeholders in the maintenance of national security and harmony to step up efforts to create awareness among the youth to know the negative repercussions of violent extremism and terrorist activities.
He encouraged the general public particularly the youth to ascribe to the principles of unity, national cohesion, and peaceful co-existence, as they guaranteed stability for development, promotion of business between nations and among the citizenry and attracted foreign direct investment to enhance the quality of life and the growth of the country.
Retired Captain Obu cautioned that there was an upsurge of violent extremism activities in and around Ghana, which required effective measures to mitigate it from further escalation.
DSP Atta Yeboah Ntore, the Shama District Police Commander reiterated the need to ascribe to the detailed procedures as contained in Public Order Act 1994 (Act 491) to create the necessary opportunities for fostering mutual understanding before permission is issued for the organisation of any public events or demonstration for peaceful co-existence.
He explained that if a demonstration or any public event tended to jeopardise national security, the police had the right to cancel it through the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction.
But DSP Yeboah Notre maintained that, in a situation where the participants in any public event contravened the rules and regulations that guided the organisation of such event, the organisers would bear the full brunt of the law, adding that it must be of greatest concern to the organisers of any public events to ensure that their participants conduct themselves within the dictates of the law to avoid the problem.
He emphasised the need to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) since it was one of the effective grievance procedures to get the required outcome.
Mrs Harriet Addeywood, the Shama District Director for NCCE, explained that the objective was to engage the youth to halt secessionist agitations, violent extremism and to engender national cohesion and peaceful coexistence in Ghana.
She reminded the citizenry, especially the youth of their civic responsibility to cultivate a habit of tolerance of varied opinions, mutual understanding to create a conducive atmosphere for national unity and nation-building. GNA
