Tamale, March 4, GNA - Mr. Kan Dapaah, Minister of Interior, has appealed to people in the Northern Region not to take issues of peace for granted, saying: "If we are hungry and poor it is better than to be at war".

He said even though there was relative peace in the region, the Northern Region Peace Advisory Committee (NORPAC) and the security agencies should not loose sight of pockets of trouble spots and issues that have the potential of escalating into conflict.

"Peace and normalcy returning to the region, especially Dagbon should not be misconstrued that we have been able to unravel all the issues that are on the ground", he said.

Mr. Dapaah made the appeal at a meeting with members of the Northern Region Security Council and NORPAC who briefed him on the security situation in the region on Saturday, in Tamale. The Interior Minister is on a four-day working tour of the region to pay courtesy calls on chiefs and visit security organisations to interact with them to know of the security challenges facing them with the view to helping to address them.

Mr. Dapaah urged all stakeholders in the Dagbon chieftaincy disputes to work assiduously to secure a sustainable peace for the people to enhance development.

He called on the media to complement the government's efforts by helping to persuade the people to always to resort to dialogue rather than taking to arms at the least provocation. He said people in the region must move away from confrontation to cooperation and dialogue as the hallmark of improving relationship with one another.

"Our enemy is not a single political regime or person, group of persons or religion or ideology, rather our enemy is poverty underdevelopment and disease", he said.

The Minister urged the people to avoid making concessions to agitators', saying: "They should also make no distinction between such people and those who knowingly harbour or provide aid to them". Mr. Dapaah therefore appealed to all concerned people in the region to participate actively in helping the security agencies to arrest all those who foment trouble and bring them to book to serve as a deterrent to others.

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, who is the Chairman of the Regional Security Council said because peace was returning to Dagbon, six banks including Intercontinental Bank, Home Financing Company and Zenith Bank, were establishing their branches in Tamale. He called on political parties in the region to work together with other stakeholders in the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute to find a lasting solution to the crisis. Mr. Dapaah earlier presented office equipment including computers and accessories to the NORPAC to enhance its secretariat operations in appreciation of the good works of the organisations towards sustaining peace in the region.