Ho, July 1, GNA - Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister has called for "unabated vigilance" to keep at bay lawless people who could disturb the relative peace in the country.

He was speaking at a get-together for about 140 Senior Citizens on Republic Day, set aside to honour the aged in Ghana.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa lauded the Ghanaian's individual and collective abhorrence for conflicts and war, which he said, was responsible for the peace in the country, at a time when "peace and unity" was increasingly becoming an "endangered species" in the sub-region.

While citing Ghana and a few other countries as the "only haven, amidst bloody civil disturbances and conflicts all over the place", the Minister regretted the intra and inter-communal disputes that had rocked the Volta Region, some of which resulted in bloody clashes.

He said the principal causes of these conflicts were disputed claims to ownership of land an occupancy of stools.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa appealed to the Senior Citizens and opinion leaders to exert their personal influence and authority on the minds and dispositions of people in their respective communities to eschew conflicts and civil strife. He said the 80-year-old Alavanyo-Nkonya and about 50-year-old Peki-Tsito conflicts would have been resolved long ago if killings and destructions of property were the right methods of seeking solutions to them.

"As a region we cannot achieve development and progress in the midst of violent communal conflicts," the Minister stated.

He observed that conflict was an inescapable fact in every society, including even the smallest family unit but added, "With mutual goodwill and commitment, all conflicts can be resolved peacefully, regardless of their causes, nature and size".

Mr Owusu-Yeboa promised that the government would continue to create a favourable environment for open exchange of views on all issues.

"It does not matter what is your partisan political identity or orientation, in accepting good ideas and recommendations for nation building the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is Party blind," he stated.

Concerns of participants during an open forum included the failure of the Accountant-General's Department to effect payment of increases in pensions early to enable Pensioners cope with the rising cost of living.

There was a suggestion that government's policy on health care for the aged should extend to those who seek medical attention from herbalists as well. Among the participants were Togbe Adjatekpor VI, Osie of Avatime Traditional Area and Professor Nathan Dzobo, an Educationist and one time Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana.