Peace Summits Are Waste Of Everybody�s Time - Ablakwa

�If things had been allowed as they are, without the dooms day statement - as if Ghana is at a cross road and as if Ghana is to break up into a full blown war�I think we were just doing very well. I think that all these civil societies and all these councils ought to be very careful because what they are doing could backfire. It could rather set the stage to heighten tension, to put unnecessary pressure on our judges ahead of the verdict they want to give�I am disappointed in a sudden twist of events�� Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Education made the above statement in connection to the National Peace Summit organized by the National Peace Council (NPC), the Manhyia Palace, the Civic Forum Initiative (CFI) and the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG). The Deputy Minister told Suhiyini Alhassan on Radio Gold�s Alhaji and Alhaji that recent avalanche of peace summits and war mongering by leaders in the country ahead of the final ruling of the Supreme Court on the election petition, is rather �trying to raise tensions and present a cloud of uncertainty. The Deputy Minister said similar events were held before the 2012 December elections but yielded no fruits. According to him, statements and pronouncement made by various leaders will mean �nothing� if those making the pledges have no intention of abiding by it; �it becomes a waste of everybody�s time�. �Before the 2012 elections similar events were organized for all the political parties to accept the results. Now look at where we are; one party did not accept the results. Leaders of the opposition threw the declaration out of the window�who are we deceiving�This should tell you that those things (peace summits) don�t mean much if there is no commitment to the process� All of these attempts to gather big men to make pronouncement; these statements under the auspices of these events could have triggered something which could not have happened if these events did not take place�� he bewailed. He declared that Ghana is not a failed state and advised leaders to stop giving out such indications. He said the country has a full force of the Police, Soldiers and other security agencies which are more than able to rise up to any unforeseen occurrence, hence the country is safe. �Our leaders must be careful. They may have good intentions but the way and manner they are going about it if care is not taken, can rather create an atmosphere of distrust�� he added.