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2-day conflict resolution workshop ends in Wa

Speaker addressing participants

The Director in charge of Capacity Development and Outreach at the National Peace Council, Mrs Janet Sarney-Kuma has assured that the council is working hard to prevent violence before, during and after the 2024 general election.

She, therefore, called on stakeholders to work together to have a peaceful election and a peaceful transition devoid of violence, destruction of property or loss of innocent lives.

Mrs Sarney-Kuma gave the assurance in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a two-day training programme at Dorimon in the Wa West District for traditional and religious leaders on conflict resolution, negotiation and confidence building for effective conflict management at the community level.

The three-year project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Atlantic Corridor Project is being implemented across three conflict prone regions namely; North-East, Upper East and Upper West regions.

The Director in charge of Capacity Development and Outreach noted that the Peace Council was doing a lot including quarterly meetings with the political parties in Accra which they hope to extend to the regions.

Mr Emmanuel Danyomah, the Executive Secretary of the Upper West Regional Peace Council, urged religious and traditional leaders to understand the dynamics of conflict before initiating action to resolve them.

“Understanding the need, rationale, cultural dynamics of a conflict among others will enable you analyse the conflict properly and take the appropriate actions to resolve it”, he said.

He also pleaded with them to always shelve their emotions and deal with the truth, adding that it was only when they detach their emotions from the conflict that they could act appropriately in resolving the conflict.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Moses Banungwiiri, the Archdeacon of the Anglican Church in Wa and the Chairman of the Upper West Regional Peace Council admonished chiefs and religious leaders to endeavour to speak the truth to help maintain peace in their communities.

Naa Bawa Seidu Seidu, the Chief of Duasi lauded the Peace Council for the programme, saying the knowledge shared would help them in resolving conflicts when they come up.

According to him, many conflicts would not have existed today if they were properly handled by the mediators.

From Rafia Abdul Razak, Wa

News

Committee probing petitions against Chief Justice to begin hearings tomorrow

The Committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama to inquire into three petitions filec against the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, will commence hearings tomorrow, Thursday May 15, 2025.

The five-member Committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang of the Supreme Court, was set up by the President in accordance with Article 146(6) of the 1992 constitution and in consultation with the Council of State, following a determination of a prima facie case against the Chief Justice.

The committee will sit three times a week and present their recommendations to the President upon completion of their work.

It would be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama recently suspended Chief Justice following the establishment of a prima facie case in response to three separate petitions seeking her removal from office.

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38-year-old man gets life imprisonment for killing Assemblies of God pastor in 2018

After close to seven years of trial, a seven-member jury on Wednesday, May 14, returned a guilty verdict in the murder case involving the killing of the Senior Pastor of the Central Assemblies of God church at Tema in 2018.

The convict, Francis Nabegmado, a relative of the deceased, inflicted a fatal knife wound on Rev. Dr. David Nabegmado on December 30, 2018, after alleging that the senior pastor was a false preacher who engaged in idol worship and human sacrifices.

After an hour of summing up by the judge, Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, the jury retired briefly and returned with a unanimous guilty verdict.

Based on the unanimous verdict of the jurors who had previously studied the statements of the five witnesses called by the prosecution, and listened to the summing up process, the judge sentenced the 38-year-old to life imprisonment.

When he was offered an opportunity to comment on the verdict, the convict told the judge that he wanted to go home to meet his family.

“My Lady, I want to see my family, and I want to be taken to Yendi”.

When the judge told him she couldn’t make such an order for him to go and see his family in Yendi, the convict forcefully said, “I insist”.

Francis, who will now spend the rest of his life at the Nsawam medium security prison, had told the court throughout the trial that the decision to attack his uncle, Rev. Nebegmado, was driven by insanity, but that did not save him from receiving a life sentence.

Speaking briefly after the sentencing, Senior Pastor of the Assemblies of God church at Tema Community 4, Rev. Emmanuel Kwesi Ofori, said the church has been waiting for this closure for the past seven years and will soon issue an official statement.

Source: Myjoyonline.com