NDA partners with Star Ghana to promote peace and security in northern Ghana

Regional news for Sunday March 14, 2021

Source: Abubakari Sadiq, Contributor

03/14/2021

NDA Partners Star Ghana to promote peace and security in northern Ghana
The Northern Development Authority (NDA) in partnership with the STAR-Ghana Foundation, the National Peace Council and the Northern Development Forum held a regional dialogue in Tamale on conflict, security and stability in northern Ghana.

The dialogue that was part of the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) project in northern Ghana was on the theme; Peace, security and stability for the sustainable development of northern Ghana.

In his speech, Dr Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya, Director General of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), said the theme of the dialogue reflects the NDA’s mission to catalyze the transformation of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ) through the mobilization of citizens; Strategic planning; Successful Coordination, Collaboration and Facilitation (CCF), for effective delivery of public sector and private sector investments.

He stressed the need for lasting peace in the region to facilitate his development agenda. “A peaceful and generally productive Northern Ghana will enable the government to provide a good life for all Ghanaians.”

Dr Anamzoya said: “It is to be noted that we cannot build northern Ghana without a strong focus on a peaceful, just and inclusive society because there can be no peace without sustainable development and no sustainable development without peace.”

Dr Anamzoya stressed that “peace, which is the unshakeable foundation of a just and prosperous society, can only be created by the government or the security services. It is the collective responsibility of all”.

He spoke of some of the causes of conflicts in the north of the country, saying: “Decades of neglect by successive governments has resulted in increasing inequalities; high levels of poverty and unemployment; high rates of illiteracy, among others. These development challenges and inequalities have often translated into protracted conflicts and insecurity. “

He therefore stressed that “No one can bring us peace. And no one can bring us development. We have to do it for ourselves. We need to lead the way and show commitment. We can do it. And the time to do it. it’s now.”

Dr Anamzoya said: “The development of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ) is, therefore, a national prerogative and an increasingly urgent prerogative. Not only will it contribute immensely to Ghana’s peace and security, but it will also create opportunities for young people to aspire to better things and direct their energies productively rather than channeling them into destructive and violent agendas. “

He added that “this is why the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo, when taking office in 2017, worked to reposition and reorganize the NDA to achieve its vision of a transformed” NSEZ; a place of opportunity and without poverty “.

He said: “… the successful resolution of the long conflict between the Dagbon chiefdom has brought peace, stability and development to Dagbon and throughout the NSEZ.”

DrAnamzoya called on security agencies and the courts “to let the perpetrators of heinous activities that threaten the peace of northern Ghana face all the rigors of the law”.

He assured and said: “NDA, we see this initiative as a good opportunity to create socially cohesive societies in which the NDA can implement our programs and policies to achieve a prosperous, equitable Northern Ghana. and resilient. “

The dialogue in Tamale brought together various stakeholders to diagnose the drivers of conflict and insecurity in the north of the country and to explore strategies to address them.