Tamale, July 13, GNA - Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister has expressed appreciation for the improvement in the security situation in the region and Dagbon in particular.
However, he noted that some people "Who thrive in chaos and conflict" were still parading the corridors of some chiefs and enlisting some of the youth to disturb the peace.
Alhaji Iddris made the observation when addressing the Ordinary Meeting of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs in Tamale. The Kampakuya-Na Abdulai Yakubu Andani, the Regent of Dagbon made his maiden attendance at the House.
Alhaji Idris warned the chieftaincy contractors to stop their acts for peace to prevail in Dagbon.
He appealed to stakeholders involved in ensuring that the road map to peace in Dagbon was achieved to prevail on the contending parties in the chieftaincy dispute to make compromises to attain lasting peace. "No road map to peace can be perfect or foolproof since as human beings, we ourselves are not perfect, no party should think that it can be fully satisfied."
"For us to maintain peace, each one of us must make concessions or compromises since it is necessarily a situation of give-and-take", Alhaji Idris added.
Alhaji Idris said as their contribution towards peace in the region, the chiefs should prevail on the judicial committee of the House to expedite action on the several chieftaincy cases pending before it. He mentioned the Bimbilla and Buipe Chieftaincy dispute, which needed urgent attention to be resolved and called on the House to dispose of other disputes before it.
Alhaji Idris asked the chiefs to encourage their people to patronize the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to enable them access quality health care at affordable cost.
The Northern Regional Minister said Government had provided three tractors to each of the districts in the region under the Youth Employment Scheme, and urged the youth to take advantage of the scheme to boost agricultural production.
Na Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga, the Nayiri and President of the House expressed appreciation to the Government, Otumfour Osei Tutu II, Asanthene and the security agencies that worked relentlessly to ensure peace and contributed to the burial of the late King of Dagbon.
Na Sheriga called on Ghanaians to take a cue from the brilliant performance of the Black Stars in the World Cup tournament and bury their differences so that "as a nation we can open new frontiers and cultivate a new spirit of tolerance and harmonious co-existence irrespective of our ethnic, religious and political inclinations".
He noted that the destiny of the country was a collective responsibility of everyone and therefore, appealed to Ghanaians to lend their material, moral and spiritual support for the development of the country.
Na Sheriga said with the relative peace prevailing in the region, the people were prepared to undertake serious farming but noted that the prices of farm inputs such as fertilizer and tractor services were beyond their means and appealed to the government to make the prices of the inputs affordable to farmers.
He appealed to the government to support the House to build a Guest House to accommodate chiefs and visitors who attend meetings at Tamale. Na Sheriga appealed to lawyers who had cases before the Judicial Committee of the House to endeavour to expedite action on the cases instead of the frequent adjournments.
