Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi
The National Peace Council (NPC) has launched a Peace Fund, to supplement the budgetary allocation given to it by the government.
The fund is also expected to further strengthen the effectiveness of the operations of the Council in preventing, managing and resolving conflicts and promoting peace.
The theme for the launch was: “Promoting National Peace and Cohesion through a Sustainable Peace Fund.”
Launching the fund, Chairman of the NPC, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi, recounted how due to lack of adequate resources, Board members of the Council have had to resort to using their personal resources to discharge their duties.
“The coming into effect of the National Peace Fund will give the Council some respite and provide a better source of financing for Ghanaians to own the Peace Council as they would not be solely dependent on the government in power for funding to carry out its mandate,” he said.
The Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, who represented the President Akufo-Addo to launch the fund, urged every citizen to support by donating their widow’s mite to ensure that it is sustained to enable the NPC to be efficient.
Mr. Nitiwul recalled how 15 years ago the government of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, in pursuit of securing sustainability of Ghana’s peace and development established the NPC.
He said the people’s effort to maintain the peace in the country had earned Ghana the accolade of a peaceful nation with a stable democracy having conducted eight elections, and even changing from one party to the other with little or sometimes no problems at all.
“Indeed, for three consecutive times, Ghana had come top as the most peaceful country in the Sub-region of West Africa” while the latest global index rated the country for the first time as the second most peaceful country in Africa,” Mr. Nitiwul said.
The Minister said the NPC Act 818 passed by Parliament in 2011, received massive support from both majority and minority MPs, and recalled how the NPC since its inception in 2006 played a key role in the governance arrangement of the country.
He used the occasion to applaud the efforts of the NPC in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts to building sustainable peace, especially during the country’s elections in 2016 and 2020, and in other protracted chieftaincy.
He encouraged all, including government businesses, investors, development partners, churches, mosques, media and individuals to support the initiative of the NPC to raise the GHS 10 million target set for the launch.
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who was also represented at the launch by the Omanhene of Sabronum Traditional Area, Daasebre Oguakro Osei Bediako, said the fund had come at a very crucial
Dignitaries present included the Chief of the Defence Staff Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Commandant of KAIPTC Major General Francis Ofori, Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, Catholic Bishops Conference, Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, Religious leaders, Traditional Leaders, Diplomatic Crops, Academia among others.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey