Tamale, March 20, GNA - Some youth leaders drawn from five political parties in Accra are undergoing a study of the political situation in the Northern Region to see how best they could contribute towards reducing the political tension there.

They are from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), People's National Convention (PNC), Convention People's Party (CPP) and the Eagle Party.

The aim is also to educate their members in the Northern Region on political tolerance and to let them know that politics unites people rather than divides them, and to ensure that, there is a violence free by-election in Tamale Central.

The Youth Network organised the programme and is being funded by the Frederick Ebert Foundation (FES).

During the six-day education and learning periods, the 17 youth members would address some youth groups in Tamale, visit rural communities and some tertiary institutions and interact with the people and would also be addressed by some political leaders from the region.

Mr Mohamed Amin Adam, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, addressing them on the political situation in the Northern Region, indicated that the political problem in the region had something to do with poverty and chieftaincy.

He explained that because of the poverty levels in northern Ghana, some of the people were now using any means including political violence to survive and unless something was done to address poverty, violence would continue to be with the people.

Mr Adam commended the Youth Network for organising the programme and that it would help some of the local political youth leaders to appreciate peace and unity to end political violence.

Mr George Sarpong, Executive Director of the Youth Network said unless political leaders in the country developed the mind of fairness, the violence in the north would always exist.

He pointed out that there was lopsided development between the North and the South in the colonial period and stressed the need to reverse the trend, saying, "The north can not continue to be suffering from poverty, while the problem can be solved".

Mr Sarpong said the Youth Network was interested in promoting peace among the youth and that anything that had the tendency of dividing them would be resisted and called on politicians to live exemplary lives worth emulation. 20 March 06