Regional News of Monday, 30 May 2005

Source: GNA

NGO worried about the effect of negative propaganda on peace

Wa, May 30 GNA - Alhaji Abudulai Alhassan, Executive Director of EANFOWORLD, an Accra-based nongovernmental organisation (NGO), has expressed concern about the level of disinformation and misinformation in the country and urged the Government to strengthen its information organs to educate the people on its programmes to ensure peace. He said when people were well sensitised to understand and appreciate Government policies and laws, that affected them, they could immediately identify people, who were out to mislead them to create disunity.

Alhaji Alhassan, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Wa, said contrary to what some political propagandists were trying to portray there was peace and stability in country and people went about their duties without fear, although some differences that created acrimony in the recent past still existed.

He said EANFOWORLD was studying the situation to see how it could institute intervention programmes to forestall political, chieftaincy and religious disputes, which had become a barrier to development in the Wa Municipality and the Upper West Region in general.

He said his organisation was working with communities and the Government towards achieving good governance and sustainable development of human and material resources.

The youth in the area, he said, should see themselves as one people with common aspirations and restrain themselves from unnecessary political rivalries.

"As one people with common aspirations, we should put our political identities aside until 2008, and rather join forces to address education, health and other problems that engender poverty", he said.