Dakpema urges leaders not to influence the youth negatively

Tamale, March 26, GNA - Dakpema, Na Alhassan Dawuni, Chief of Tamale, has advised people in leadership positions not to influence the youth to engage in negative acts that would derail Ghana's development. He said, "As leaders we should be able to solve common problems such as poverty, hunger, unemployment, disease and malnutrition, instead of using our positions to influence the youth for acts of violence." Na Dawuni gave the advice on Wednesday in Tamale when Mr Bernard Morna, General Secretary of the People's National Convention, (PNC) paid a courtesy call on him.

He said everybody, the world over, was crying for peace but in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, people were still up in arms against their brothers and stressed the need for leaders, especially those in Ghana, to live exemplary lives for the youth to emulate.

"There is no place better than home so we should not create bitter conditions that would let our people continue to live in fear and deter investors into the country to open jobs for the youth," he stressed. He advised politicians who were always sponsoring the youth to purchase weapons and ammunitions to desist because one day such weapons and ammunitions would be used against them saying, "He who pulls the sword dies by the sword".

He said it was due to the poverty levels in the North, which made the youth vulnerable to monetary influence for acts of violence, that the Dakpema Educational Fund was launched, last year, to help brilliant but needy children to continue with their education. Na Dawuni said though the account was receiving patronage it was not enough to assist many needy children to improve their education and appealed to all bodies to contribute to improve education in the north. Mr. Bernard Morna condemned the recent acts of arson in Garezhegu where a chief was allegedly murdered by some angry youth and called on the security personnel not to shield any one found culpable. Mr. Morna said, "Killing one another is not the solution to the problems facing us as Northerners. The enemy we should fight is poverty, unemployment and disease but we should struggle towards developing our communities."

He commended the Dakpema for his peace and development-oriented initiatives and said the PNC would strengthen the chieftaincy institutions, especially those with development agendas, when the party wins power in 2012.

Mr. Morna advised the youth, especially those recently arrested in Tamale, when they were transporting ammunitions to Bunkprurugu to mention the names of politicians who were behind them to serve as a deterrent to such acts. 26 March 10