Participants of the training
Imam Iddrisu Abdulai Ahlusunna Waljama'a, District Chief Imam of Wa West, has cautioned all communities living with conflicts in the district to be mindful of their responsibilities instead of focusing only on their rights.
"Yes, you have the right, but you equally have the responsibility. Oftentimes, people only look at their rights while neglecting their responsibility, which is the reason why conflicts always escalate," he said.
Imam Abdulai, who is also the Wa West District Director for Complementary Education, was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a two-day training program for traditional and religious leaders on conflict resolution, negotiations, and confidence building for effective conflict management in the community.
The training is part of a three-year project being implemented by the National Peace Council across the Upper West, Upper East, and North-East Regions with sponsorship from the UN Peacebuilding Fund in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The Wa West District Chief Imam pointed out that knowing the rights and responsibilities would often result in taking the right decisions and approaches to resolving misunderstandings and preventing them from escalating.
"So, if we were able to know that this is our right and this is our responsibility, some of these issues would not have happened at all," he said.
He thanked the Peace Council for drawing their attention to the aspect of responsibility in conflict situations, stressing, "I am impressed with this program, and I wish I had this training earlier; maybe I would have been able to impart the knowledge to many other people."
"I learned that when there's a conflict, everybody has their own view about the issue, and to be able to understand them, you need to put yourself in the person's position," he indicated.
Imam Abdulai also called for patience at all times, emotional control, and speaking the truth in times of misunderstanding.
He appealed to the Peace Council and its partners to extend the training to cover all the communities in the Wa West District.
Bushira Sakara, a Women's Group Leader, emphasised the need for peace to reign in the various communities and appealed to the youth to endeavor to exercise patience in misunderstandings.
