The Wa West District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) organized a community durbar to foster community and police relationship. The Durbar was held on the 4th July, 2024 at Siriyiri community in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region.

The event was necessitated given the NCCE’s continuous commitment to building tolerance and national cohesion among peoples and communities.
Admittedly, violent extremism has become a new threat to community co-existence and defeating government and people’s efforts to intensify the socio-economic transformation of nations. The increasing threat of Jihadists in the Sub-regions has renewed calls for Ghana to double its efforts in building a resilient community as well as establishing effective policing mechanisms. It is in this spirit that the Siriyiri community has been chosen for the community durbar given its fast-growing pre-urban nature which suggests a possible influence of behaviours and characters which can result in violent extremism.

The program which was held in the community meeting grounds saw the chief of the community, assembly member, queen mother and Imam in attendance. Other members were opinion leaders, clans and family heads, women groups, youth leaders and women and young people. There were over 150 people a significant number of participants have experienced the NCCEs continuous campaign against violent extremism.

The Wa West District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education Madam Esther Suglo in her opening remarks highlighted the importance of the durbar. Madam Esther Suglo emphasizes that the project is to foster community and police relationships to help combat crimes and violent extremism.

She particularly appealed to participants to take a deep interest in contributing their efforts to preventing crimes and violent extremism. She used the occasion to introduce the two resource persons for the durbar and also lauded the European Union for the continuous support as the prevent fundings for the project in Ghana.
The Wa West District Police Commander who was the first to make a presentation emphasized the significance of the police institutions.

He re-orientated the chief and people of Siriyiri to have a positive mindset about the Ghana Police Service. The district police commander stressed that; the police institution is a creation to ensure that lives and properties are protected and for that matter, their work is anchored on ethics, morality, law and professionalism.

On the need to deepen relations and security at the community leader and by extension the Wa West District. The district police commander DSP Richard Tamatey urged the community members to stop protecting and hiding criminals as well as accepting strangers into their homes in the spirit of solidarity. He admonished them at all times to reach out to community leaders and police whenever there were suspicious characters.

Concerning the formation of community watchdog committees; The district police commander further urged the communities to identify young people and forward their names and contact to his desk for further engagement. He pointed out that; young people of good standing should be considered to be part of the community watchdog committee.
The district police commander further schooled the chief and the people of the Siriyiri community to understand the process of reporting crimes and requesting bills.

He noted, that billing someone who has been invited to the police station is free. He noted that; no one is expected to pay monies before securing a bill for a relation.

On contacting the police, the district police command DSP Richard Tamatey cautioned the participants not to make prank calls; rather dial police emergency contact when there is an emergency. He also appeals to residents not to express fear and panic when engaging the police with a worthy course.

He noted, “Our personal and collective security is in our hands and we all have a duty call to fight crime”. He then mentioned the police emergency contact to the gathering.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ideapath Consult, Mr. Tahiru Lukman speaking on violent extremism did not fail to cite examples of the West African sub-regions which are engulfed with Jihadist activities.

He cited the activities of Jihadis in Northern Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad and the ailing political situation in Togo, Gabon and Guinea as a wake-up call to mother Ghana. He noted that Ghana has experienced military interventions or coups at some point in its political history and cautioned that; the election of 2024 is an opportunity for Ghana to consolidate its democratic credentials.

The seasoned resource person stated that good electoral outcomes can only be achieved if citizens take pride and instill in themselves a sense of nationalism and patriotism.
Mr. Tahiru Lukman noted that politics and religion are easy convenience elements that can be exploited for violent extremism.

He urged the community members to see politics as a contest of ideas and not an avenue for conflict or violence. He further appealed to community members to be more religious tolerance. He expressed the excitement that; Christians visit Muslims in terms of social occasions such as naming ceremonies and funerals and vice versa.

This development contributed to positioning Ghana as a beacon of hope, peace and democracy. He concluded by stating that, Ghana is the only country we have and for that matter, communities should work to maintain the peace they are enjoying and collective we have a peaceful Ghana.

Filed By
Tahiru Lukman
Email: lukmantahiru@rocketmail.com
Tel: +233 (0) 209154057