IHRC TO PARTNER NATIONAL PEACE COUNCIL TO MAINTAIN PEACE IN GHANA

The International Human Rights Commission, Ghana last Monday paid a courtesy call on the National Peace Council of Ghana. The delegation of the Commission was made up of some IHRC Ghana Executives led by the Coordinator/Special Envoy, Amb. Professor Michael Kwateng were received by the Executive Secretary and some administrative staff of the Council.

In a welcome address, Mr. George Amoh, the Executive Secretary of the Council revealed that the National Peace Council (NPC) is an independent statutory national peace institution established by the Act of parliament of the Republic of Ghana, named The National Peace Council Act, 2011. He said any activity undertaken by the Council must be derived from its mandate under the Act 818. The core function of the Council is to prevent, manage, and resolve conflict and to build sustainable peace. He took time to explain some successes chucked up by the Council since its inception. He introduced some heads of departments present and expressed his desire to welcome IHRC Ghana to the Council’s quarters.

The leader of the delegation, Prof. Michael Kwateng on his part thanked the executive secretary and his team for such a warm reception and also for the good work of maintaining peace in the country. He opined that one of the fundamental principles of the IHRC is to ensure that there is peace at all times so that the citizenry will go about their normal duties without infringement on their fundamental rights. He expressed IHRC’s interest to collaborate with Peace Council to maintain peace in Ghana.

Professor Kwateng also revealed that IHRC is engaging all stakeholders in meetings, talks, seminars and sensitization toward addressing issues on human rights violations and to promote peaceful co-existence among Ghanaians, especially now that we are in the electioneering year. He revealed IHRC's intention to observe the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections in Ghana to determine the credibility of the processes of the general elections.

The other members of the NPC and IHRC also took turns expressing their interest for the two institutions to collaborate. Both institutions agreed to continuously work together to ensure a better Ghana for all.