The President of the national African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Governing Council, Rev. Professor Samuel Kwesi Adjepong, has said that democracy cannot thrive in an atmosphere of violence.

Rev. Professor Adjepong was speaking at a validation workshop on draft district APRM governance report for the Gomoa West District at Apam on Friday.

He said the work of the APRM had always been non-partisan and therefore urged the participants to state their minds without fear or favour.

The participants include, Assembly Members, traditional rulers, identifiable groups, heads of departments and religious bodies.

Rev. Professor Adjepong called for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to be properly resourced to enable it discharge its constitutionally mandated civic education responsibility.

He expressed the hope that through the APRM, corruption would be reduced and that more parents too would be encouraged to enroll their children in schools.

The Administrator of the Apam St. Luke Catholic Hospital, Mr. Francis Yawson, expressed regret that some people have been abusing the National Health Insurance Scheme, collecting drugs at the hospital for others. The chief of Apam, Nana Effrim X, who chaired the function, expressed concern about high rate of indiscipline in society.