THE Minister of the Interior, Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, has called on the Christian community and the Ga Traditional Council to open up channels of dialogue to help resolve the recent misunderstanding which has degenerated into clashes between their followers.
He pointed out that the taking of entrenched positions by both parties in respect of the ban on drumming and noise making is not only moving the two sides farther away from obtaining an amicable solution but also threatening the peace and maintenance of law and order in the society.
The Interior Minister was shedding light on the response of his outfit to the increasing spate of violence between some members of the Christian community and members of the Ga Traditional Council enforcing the one-month ban on drumming and noise making imposed by the traditional authorities over a week ago.
Last Sunday, clashes erupted between the two at the Osu branch of the Christ Apostolic Church when the Ga Youth went to the church to enforce the ban.
According to Alhaji Malik, the exercise of religious or customary rights and freedoms should not end in clashes over competing claims of rights of the contending parties.
He pointed out that in such tensed situations, only dialogue holds the key to the trading of compromises from which solutions acceptable to all would emerge.
He observed that it would be in the supreme national interest for the two sides to commence such dialogue now, and gave assurance that his outfit would work to bring about the success of such an endeavour.
Alhaji Malik, however, made it clear that the police would not countenance any acts of lawlessness from any section of society.
He further assured Ghanaians that the police are on high alert and would apprehend and bring to book, anyone or group of persons who contravene the law, or act in a manner that compromises the peace and order of the nation.
"The police cannot be neutral or stand idle in the face of acts that undermine the peace and order of the nation and threaten or deny the people of their lives and property or the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights and liberties," he stressed.
The Interior Minister pointed out that under the current constitutional dispensation of the country, avenues exist for any person or group of persons who feel their rights have been breached to initiate action in the courts to have such violations redressed.
"I wish to state that under the current dispensation, the use of force by individuals or groups to settle their differences is illegal and, therefore, unacceptable. It is from such a standpoint that we believe that confrontational actions from both sides are not permissible and desirable and that dialogue between the two sides represents the best way out," he explained.
