Dialogue key to Agbogbloshie peace - Bombande

A conflict resolution expert and former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Emmanuel Bombande, is advocating special dialogue to foster peace between Dagombas and Konkombas at Agbogbloshie in Accra.

Renewed clashes between the feuding factions at Old Fadama on Tuesday 11 April led to the loss of two lives with others sustaining various degrees of injury.

Government and some security heads, including the Inspector General of Police (IGP), have engaged both factions in a dialogue to foster peace.

But speaking to Class News about how to foster peace between the factions, Mr Bombande said dialogue should be initiated by the Peace Council and should be designed to include the direct parties involved, in order to arrive at an amicable solution.

“What we should be doing right is to understand at a deeper level that this is a community in need of a human security approach much more than enforcing peace through the police. You want to be able to engage the communities by creating the space for dialogue that makes it possible for peaceful co-existence and tolerance to prevail. But that dialogue must be designed,” he stated.

“So what we need to do is to get the National Peace Council to sit down and have the kind of consultation that will design how the dialogue should be like. Though we say dialogue is important don’t just jump into it. How should it be? Who should be part of it? What should be the agenda? Where do we see the dialogue going? And that is why it then comes along with the government’s role of investing in human security so that the reorganisation of that community and that neighbourhood is in itself reflective of the outcomes of the dialogue.”

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service, as part of measures to keep the calm at Agbogbloshie, has put up a command post for residents to report any form of threat.