Youth Urged To Put Energy Into Worthwhile Activities

Mr Amadu Musah Abudu, East Gonja District Chief Executive (DCE), has called on the youth to put their energy into worthwhile activities that would secure them a safe future, instead of using it for violent purposes. Mr Amadu made the call in a speech read on his behalf on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for youth leaders of political parties, NGO's, Religious Bodies and Civic Education Groups in Salaga. The workshop, which was under the theme; "Good Governance and Development; The Role of the Youth" was organised by the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) and supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF). The workshop was part of efforts by TEPPCON to equip the youth with adequate information to effectively participate in the December general elections devoid of conflict and imposed choice of voting. The DCE said the youth was regarded as an important national resource because of the energy it exudes, saying; "where the energies of youth are marshalled towards national development, the results have been fantastic" He said where the energies of the youth were set towards achieving parochial interests like fanning ethnicism, nepotism, class or religious interests, the society becomes fragmented and law and order begins to break down. "The end result is that anarchy takes the better part of society", he said. Mr Amadu noted that during political campaigns, intimidations, casting of insinuations and sometimes, physical violence had been perpetuated against political opponents for no justifiable reasons. "Invariably, it is the youth who are instigated to spearhead such attacks and even though the laws of the land are clear about how to deal with such cases they are hardly dealt with conclusively", he observed. He said the youth had a major role to play in ensuring that the available conflict resolution channels were used to solve their differences. The DCE urged religious leaders, constituency executives, youth associations and chiefs to embark on an extensive education “o guard against acts that were likely to disturb the peace during this critical point of the country's political history”. Mr Amadu called on the Inter Party Advisory Committee, under the auspices of the NCCE and Electoral Commission to play its expected role in allaying the concerns of political parties in order to pave way for free campaigns and elections this year. "Ghanaians have chosen the path of constitutional government and nothing should be done to force us out of the chosen path", he said.