POLITICAL PARTIES TO VISIT E.C ‘STRONG ROOM’

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June 26, 2012

Listen to Dr. Afari Djan addressing Party Executives

Executives of the various political parties in the country would soon be taken on a tour of the Electoral commission of Ghana head offices to familiarize themselves with the operations of the E.C especially in the operations room (better known as the strong room) and the information technology department of the commission.

Dr. Kwodwo Afari-Djan, chairman of the commission disclosed this at a capacity building workshop organized by the Commission in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and KAB Governance Consult (KGC) for political parties in the Volta Region at Ho.

According to the E.C boss, the tour is intended to correct wrong impressions about activities that goes on in the ‘strong room’ and deepen the understanding and strength of the country’s electoral system.

“There are several rumours and we need to make people understand that we do not do surgical operations in our operations room and that no one can manipulate figures in the IT room,” Dr. Afari-Djan said.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Progressive People’s Party (PPP) were the only parties present at the workshop which was on the theme “The Inbuilt integrity of Ghana’s Electoral Process.”

Participants treated topics like the rights and obligations of Political Parties and EC-Political Party Relations, the In-built Integrity of Ghana’s Electoral System and Importance of Polling Agents as part of the EC’s outreach programme on voter education.

Dr. Afari Gyan said everyone needed some form of voter education and advised political parties to educate the electorate on voting procedures and the dos and don’ts of elections.

He therefore expressed the hope that, the Commissions engagement with party executives would help deepen their understanding of the electoral system create mutual appreciation of the basis of the relationship between the EC and the political parties.

MEDIA PRACTITIONERS ASKED TO PRACTICE ‘PEACE JOURNALISM’

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Kwadwo Duodu

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June 18, 2012

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Listen to Justin Bayor

The West African Network For Peace-building (WANEP), Ghana, has asked media practitioners to practice peace journalism so as to guarantee the country’s peace during this electioneering period.

Mr. Justin Bayor, the National Network Coordinator of WANEP-Ghana, said the country is currently experiencing security challenges hence the need for media practitioners to be circumspect in their reportage in order not to jeopardize the country’s fledgling democracy.

“Anyone who thinks Ghana is peaceful and can never go to war, is day dreaming’ Mr. Bayor said and noted that the nation’s security is no longer the duty of the security agencies but rather a shared responsibility of every citizen.

Mr Bayor, who made the call at a media consultative workshop in Ho on Friday, expressed concern about the use of vindictive and provocative language in the Ghanaian media.

He said the derogatory remarks creeping into the media landscape had the potential of plunging the nation into chaos, if not checked immediately.

Mr. Bayor said WANEP is engaging youth from 14 ‘hot spots’ across the country to be ambassadors of peace to ensure that the 2012 general election is conducted without rancor.

Some participants at the workshop blame the increasing use of foul language in the media on the commercialization of the media, which now superseded the public interest and called for the regular training of media practitioners as well as media owners on the modern trends in reporting and also on the need to always serve the public interest.

TOGBEGA GABUSU SPEAKS ‘AM NOW A REFUGEE’

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Kwadwo Duodu

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June 18, 2012

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Togbega Gabusu (middle) flank by Togbe Adzimah (L)

Listen to Togbe Afede appeal to Factions

The Paramount chief of Gbi Traditional area, Togbega Gabusu VI has on Thursday said he has been living in a hideout as his sisters were also staying with other people after his palace was vandalised and vehicles burnt by some irate Zongo youth in Hohoe last Monday. “Am now a refugee in my own home” Togbe Gabusu said in his first public comment when he met with a delegation from the Volta Regional House of Chiefs and the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) led by Togbe Afede XIV President of the house of chiefs and the Volta regional minister, Henry Ford Kamel in the residence of the Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, to sympathize with the people of Hohoe and to also help broker peace.

Clashes broke between the youth of Hohoe and their Zongo counterparts last Monday, after the later went on rampage and vandalised properties in the palace of Togbe Gabusu including his vehicles, accusing him (Gabusu) of ordering the exhumation of the corpse of the Chief Imam of the area. This led to reprisal attack from the indigenes, who also went and set ablaze shops belonging to some Zongo people in the town.

The town is now under a dusk to dawn curfew with heavy security deplored to maintain law and order.

According to Togbega Gabusu he hasn’t been to his palace since the incident as he was forced to be indoors and, therefore, he could not assess the extent of damage caused to his house and property.

He thanked the delegation of the chiefs especially Togbe Afede for the deep concern they had shown to him and the rest of the people and expressed the hope that a better situation would arise from the crisis.

Mr. Henry Ametepe, Deputy Volta regional minister, used the occasion to assure Togbega that government would do its best to put the palace back to shape.

Togbe Afede & his Entourage

Earlier, Togbe Adzima V, Chief of Gbi-Abansi, briefed Togbe Afede and his entourage and stressed that the Gbis were not against the Moslems but the unruly behaviours of some of their youths.

He expressed disgust at the audacity of the youths from the Zongo Community to ransack and torch the Palace of Togbega Gabusu. He said the Zongo youths had consistently acted with hostility and impunity towards the traditional authorities over the years.

Togbe Afede appealed to them to defer the deadline set for the replacement of traditional regalia which got missing from the chief’s palace and said the situation was so volatile and that nothing should be done for it to escalate.

Togbe Afede also assured them that the Regional House of Chiefs would collaborate with the Volta Regional Coordinating Council towards the restoration of stool regalia and treasures which got missing in the conflict.

He urged the parties to soften their stance and give peace a chance, adding that without peace and unity, the huge potential of Hohoe as an investment destination could not be exploited.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Member for the zongo community, Alhaji Gibril Buhari, has appealed to Togbe Afede XIV to prevail on the Gbi Traditional Council to soften their stance on the ultimatum given for them to return the missing regalia, so that an extensive search would be conducted to retrieve whatever that was taken from Togbe Gaabusu’s palace.

COMMITTEE OF EMINENT PERSONS TO INVESTIGATE CLASHES

Some of the displaced persons

A committee of eminent persons from the Volta region is to be set up to unravel the cause of the clashes which claim three live and displaced over thousand people. This was disclosed by the Volta regional minister Henry Ford Kamel, when he led the delegation of chiefs to pay a courtesy call on the Catholic bishop of Jasikan, Most Rev. Gabriel Akwasi Ababio Mante.

Members of the committee who would be drawn from various spheres of the society including the religion, according to the minister would investigate circumstances leading to the clashes and come out with a roadmap which would bring total peace to Hohoe and to forestall future occurrences.

Bishop Mante expressed shock at the incident but was grateful to the security apparatus for the swift nature the situation was brought under control.

He assured the delegation of his readiness to help restored peace to Hohoe but complained about non-implementation of recommendations of investigative committees and said this had left problems unresolved. This attitude, he said could spell disaster if aggrieved parties felt that justice have not been done.

Meanwhile, the delegation of Chiefs and the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) led by Togbe Afede XIV President of the house of chiefs and the Volta regional minister, Henry Ford Kamel, have visited the displaced persons at Jasikan.

Togbe Afede appealed to them to return home to begin the process of reconciliation and rebuilding.

He also urged them to be law abiding and respect traditions of the Gbi people.

The displaced people who are mostly zongo women and children were part of the over six thousand persons who flee the conflict and are living with friends and relatives at Jasikan, Kadjebi, Biakoye and Kpando.

burnt shops

Gabusu’s burnt vehicle

CHAOS IN HO AS POLICE SHOT AND KILLED A ‘SUSPECTED CRIMINAL’

By

Kwadwo Duodu

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June 10, 2012

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Listen to My report from the incident scene

Police pushing a suspect into the vehicle

There was chaos in Ho, the Volta regional capital Sunday morning, when angry youth of Anlokordzi; a suburb of Ho clashed with police officers following the killing of one of their colleagues by the police in the area.

The incident occurred during a dawn swoop by the police in the area noted for harboring suspected criminals and wee smokers.
Police sources disclosed that, the young man suspected to be a criminal was shot and killed when he allegedly attempted to stab a Police officer with a knife.

But eyewitnesses at the scene said the deceased, Atsu Mensah was rather shot and killed at a short range in the neck by one of the police officers when he attempted to escape, after eight of them were arrested in ‘Kpako’ house, located behind the Metro mass Transit terminal, close to the Ho central market. This angered the youth of the area, who mass up with machetes, stones and sticks and attacked police officers who were at the scene to convey the corpse to the morgue.

Empty pellets at the clash scene

Sensing danger, the police officers retreated to the Ho central police station , firing several warming shots to disperse the angry mob who followed and threw stones and sticks at them. The mob also burnt car tyres and created blockades on the road in front of the police station with logs and cement blocks before a reinforcement of armed police and military personnel arrived at the scene to put the situation under control.

The incident has left several people sustaining various degrees of injuries, with 13 suspects so far arrested.

As of Sunday afternoon, relative calm have returned to the area as a team of police and military personnel are on patrol in the area.

Meanwhile, the Volta regional Security Council (RESEC) in a press statement signed by the regional minister, who is also the chairman of RESEC, Henry Ford Kamel have expressed its condolences to the bereaved family and called on the citizens of Anlokordzi to exercise restraint and remain calm. The statement concluded by assuring the good citizens of Ho that, ‘a transparent and independent committee of enquiry would be set up to investigate the unfortunate incident.

In a related development, the Volta Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and a correspondent for the Daily Graphic Mr Victor Kwawukume, have been allegedly assaulted by the police for taking photographs of the chaotic situation.

Mr Kwawukume who narrated his ordeal, said he was at the scene taking notes and pictures as the police arrested people and beat suspects with batons and gun buts, when the police rushed on him and assaulted him severally on the face and head.

He said though he identified himself as a media personnel, the police pounced on him until a police friend of his came to his rescue.

The GJA chairman said the police seized his camera, and asked him to come for it at the Ho central Police Station, which He later collected at the Station with some journalists and he was ordered to delete all the pictures he took.

JOURNALISTS CHARGED TO PRACTICE JOURNALISM OF ‘CHANGE’

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Kwadwo Duodu

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June 4, 2012

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Mr Henry Ford-Kamel, the Volta regional minister has charged journalists in the region to practice journalism that would bring change and development to the people in the region.

‘Responsible journalism is the one that provide the basis for the transformation of the lives of people in the society’ he emphasized.

Mr. Kamel who was addressing journalists at a press soiree in Ho on Friday noted that, though the region is endowed with numerous natural resources and tourism potentials, it still remains one of the poorest in the country. He therefore charged journalists to help identify and harness resources for the economic emancipation of the Region.

Citing the Keta basin for instance, Mr. Kamel said the basin has the potential to supply salt to the entire West African sub-region and called for Public-private partnership to build a mini habour to boost the salt industry at the Keta basin. He observed that the Region’s tourism potentials could turn its fortunes and challenged the media to market those potentials.

Mr. Kamel also expressed concern about the fallen standard of education in the region and urged all stakeholders to help reverse the situation to bring back the region’s glory as bastion of quality education in the country.

He also used the opportunity to appeal to landowners to desist from the outright selling of lands, as they may be selling lands that might have precious minerals.

Mr Henry Ametepe, Deputy Volta Regional Minister, said the development of the Region was a shared responsibility and urged journalists to work for the common good of the Region.

The Volta Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Victor Kwawukume, on his part asked journalists to work in the interest of the nation and ensure that the nation remain “intact” before, during and after the December Elections.

He asked them to be guided by the code of ethics of the profession and not be intimidated by politicians.

NDC’S GREATEST GIFT FOR RAWLINGS IS ELECTION 2012 VICTORY

By

Kwadwo Duodu

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May 28, 2012

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Okudzeto Ablakwa

Listen to Ablakwa Kobby & Ford Kamel

A Deputy Minister of Information Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that, the greatest gift that National Democratic Congress (NDC) can give the party’s founder and former president J. J Rawlings is for the party to win the December polls so as to preserve the legacy and dignity of the founder and his family.

According Mr Ablakwa, the NDC founder and his family have suffered so much dehumanizing treatments during the eight years tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and stated that the former first family is likely to suffer similar feat under another NPP administration. He therefore called on party members to work very hard to retain the NDC in power with or without the support of the founder.

Mr Ablakwa was addressing members of the Ho central constituency chapters of Tertiary Educational Institution Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the Ho Polytechnic auditorium on Friday.

On his part, Mr Kobby Acheampong, Deputy interior Minister said the NDC was at a crossroad and in the process of a re-birth. The re-birth according him, would ensure the party’s continuous existence.

He therefore urged members to remain focus and “follow the leader of the Party” to go thru the re-birth successfully, stressing that “At every given time, there is only one leader and that leader is the one we need to follow”.

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel, also urged members of the party not to be discouraged by the recent challenges in the Party, but instead, rally behind President Mills, the leader of the party to ensure that the NDC succeeds.

Mr Ludwig Hlordze, National Youth Organiser of the NDC said young people in the Party has great future; and urged them to propagate the “good works” of the Party and “win souls” for an easy task in the December polls.

President of Ho Polytechnic TEIN, Mr Chris P. Awudi, called for a succession plan to be developed for the youth to assume leadership positions in the Party.

NURSES URGED TO REMAIN NON-PARTISAN

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Kwadwo Duodu

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May 24, 2012

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Listen to Mrs. Gborgblorvor

Mrs. Innocentia Gborgblorvor, Volta Regional Chairperson of Ghana Registered Nurses’ Association (GRNA) has asked members of the noble profession to remain non-partisan and professional in the discharge of their duties especially in this election year. She said nurses are trained care-givers and as such the need to do that with utmost love and always be guided by their professional oath which obliged them to ‘care for the sick with all their skills, irrespective of religion, creed, colour, political and social status.’

Mrs. Gborgblorvor who said these at the regional launch of the 2012 Nurse’ Week celebration on the theme “Nurses and Midwives caring and advocating for a peaceful 2012 general elections” in Ho on Wednesday, stated that nursing as a caring and human centered profession, can only be practiced in a peaceful environment, she therefore called on stakeholders to join hands with the Association to educate Ghanaians on the need for peace and unity.
Mrs. Gborgblorvor also enumerated inadequate nurses and logistics as some of the challenges hindering the delivery of quality health care to the people. She therefore called on the Health directorate and government to intensify efforts at retaining more nurses in the region and also provide more logistics and the requisite training for nurses, for them to render modern standard health care in the country.

Hon. Henry Ford Kamel, the Volta regional minister, in a speech read on his behave, commended the Nurses Association) for their choice of theme, especially at the wake of the recent experiences during the just ended nationwide Biometric Voter Registration exercise, which he said was very peaceful in the region as compared to other parts of the country.

He therefore called on nurses to educate their patients to appreciate politics as a platform for trading different ideas for developing the country rather than as a spring board for violence.

He also applauded the collective dedication and hard work of nurses and midwives towards providing quality healthcare and assured them of government commitment to the development of the nation’s human resources.

Dr. Joseph Teye Nuettey, the Regional Director of Health Services, also a speech read for him, commended nurses and midwives for their crucial role in the healthcare delivery system but noted with grief concern, the attitudes some of them who are bent on going contrary to the ethics of the profession by abusing clients. He therefore called on the G.R.N.A to take measures to flush out those recalcitrant nurses from the system and advised them to emulate the selflessness of Florence Nightingale, mother of the nursing profession.

Ho M.C.E reacts to media reports

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Kwadwo Duodu

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May 21, 2012

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The Ho Municipal Chief Executive Mr. Isaac Kodobissah, have reacted to recent media reports that hundreds of dual desks were left at the mercy of the weather for several months at the Assembly yard, saying that, the Assembly only provided a place for the contractor to fix the desks which had not been well sorted.

“It was this process of assembling the furniture that some people failed to understand that the contractors have to finish with the assembling process, apply weevil-free chemical and final polishing; and subjecting them to inspection and final handling over to the assembly for onward delivery.” Mr Kodobisah further explained.

The M.C.E made the comment when he presented 1000 mono and dual desks to the Municipal Education Directorate for onward distribution to 33 basic schools in the Ho municipality on Friday.

Mr Isaac Kodobisah, said the package which is the first consignment delivered to the assembly by MOFRA and Sons Construction Limited, is in fulfillment of President Mills’ “Better Ghana Agenda”.

He also disclosed that, the second and third consignments consisting of 800 and 1000 pieces will soon be handed over to the assembly by Ossei Bossie Limited and Deltafa Limited respectively for onward presentation to the schools.

Mr Kodobisah said Senior high schools within the municipality have also received their allocation of classroom furniture directly from the Ministry of Education. Adding that, aside the supply of furniture, government was providing classroom blocks, free exercise books and uniforms with an increase in the capitation grant towards attaining quality education.

Deputy Director of Planning at the Municipal Education Directorate Mr John Teku, on behalf of G.E.S, expressed gratitude to government for the gesture, saying the desks would alleviate the furniture plight facing the schools and urged the heads of beneficiary schools to make good use of the furniture.

VEEP LAUNCHES €40.5 MILLION GUMP PROJECT IN HO

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Kwadwo Duodu

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May 7, 2012

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Listen to Vice President Mahama

Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has given the assurance that Government would continue to source funds for the provision of basic social amenities, to improve the living conditions of people in the urban areas.

He noted that, currently 53 per cent of Ghanaians lived in the urban areas, a figure he said was likely to increase to 67 per cent by 2030, and there was the need to provide services to meet the ever increasing population.

Vice President Mahama gave the assurance when he launched the 40.5 Million Euro Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP) at Ho, the Volta Regional capital on Monday.

GUMPP, which seeks to promote a comprehensive city-wide approach to urban issues within the framework of the draft National Urban Policy and its action plan, is being piloted in Kumasi, Tamale and Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis and the Ho Municipality with support from Agence France Development (AFD).

Vice President Mahama said apart from providing infrastructure in the pilot areas, the project would also help streamline the haphazard planning of major cities of the country and avoid perennial waste and poor sanitary conditions.

Vice President Mahama called on the beneficiary cities to make judicious use of the resources to encourage their development partners to support other projects.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofoh, the Local government minister, said the initiative would ensure the implementation of urban development programmes such as provision of lorry parks, ultra-modern markets, water, sewerage and sanitation issues, enhance the revenue collection capacity of local governments and increase strategic planning, local management and internal organization of local administration.

He also announced that the project, which would be executed within five years, would be replicated in other cities after successful implementation in the pilot cities.

The French Ambassador to Ghana Mr Frederic Clavier, on his part noted that France had been supportive of Ghana’s Public Sector Reforms, and promised to provide more resources in the coming years to build the capacities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and the decentralization programme.

Mr Bruno Leclerc, Resident Manager of AFD, said the group had already provided GH¢22million for the decentralization programme, to build the capacities of assemblies through the Community-Based Rural Development Project.

Meanwhile Vice President Mahama has commended the people of the Volta region as well as Gas for their restraint over the alleged ethnocentric comments made by the NPP MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong, assuring the people that government will ensure their safety as far as it remains in power.

He also used the opportunity and appealed to Ghanaians to give president Mills a second term for him to continue with the Better Ghana agenda.

Click links and listen to Offosu Ampofoh & VEEP audios

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NANA ADDO REAFFIRMS HIS COMMITMENT TO PEACE

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Kwadwo Duodu

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May 7, 2012

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Nana Addressing the Chiefs

The New Patriotic Party presidential candidate, Nana Akuffo-Addo has urged all Ghanaians to allow the rule of law to reign since it is the only sure way that peace and harmony will prevail ahead, during and after the 2012 elections.

He said it is the maintenance of the rule of law, which requires the enforcement of law and order without fear or favour that can guarantee peace, security and justice.

Nana Akufo-Addo who was addressing the second General Meeting of the Volta Region House of Chiefs with traditional Queens in attendance on Friday, reaffirmed his unequivocal commitment to peace in Ghana.

The meeting comes at a time when relationship between the NPP and residents of Volta Region have further been strained following the ethnocentric comments made by the NPP Member of Parliament for Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong.

But according to him, Ghana’s success stories, especially since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, must not be compromised by “inflamed passions, tribally charged language and selective use of state power.”

“I do not have any ethnic agenda to promote, and I will not condone any such agenda”, he added.

Nana Akuffo-Addo therefore urged Ghanaians to be proud and celebrate the country’s unique diverse culture and ethnicity and “share the occasional harmless joke about where we come from, but we should never allow the richness of our differences to become a currency of spite and hate.”

“Our prejudices hold us back like iron chains when they stop us from recognizing opportunity when we see it,” he added and prayed the indulgence of all to be united in the quest for development.

Nana Akuffo-Addo acknowledged the possibility of differences among Ghanaians and entreated all to put Ghana first before taking any action which is likely to jeopardize the peace and stability of the country.

“There are bound to be differences of opinions among us, but these differences of opinion should not shake our allegiance to Ghana. Ghana must be first and foremost in all our dealings and thinking. Our nation’s peace, stability, freedom and democracy are more important than anyone’s ambition, including my own,” he noted.

Nana Akuffo-Addo however, pledged his commitment to introduce free quality senior high school education, industrialise the country, including developing the resources in the Volta Region and improving the road infrastructure in the Volta Region if elected president.

Nana in a group photo with Chiefs

Meanwhile the Volta Region House of Chiefs has urged the people of the Volta region to remain calm and treat Mr Kennedy Agyapong’s “effusions” with contempt and as insignificant.

In a Press statement, the chiefs appreciate the existing bonds of friendship between various Ewe and Ashanti chiefs and their traditional areas.

The chiefs also expressed their belief in the ability of the security agencies to deal appropriately with individuals and groups who would want to disturb the peace that has become the distinguishing development of the entire nation.

“We therefore would like to call on all Ghanaians to receive with skepticism politics that play on the forces that divide us, that play on our sentiments, make us uncomfortable and instead begin to welcome endeavours that seek alliances within our nation”, the statement said.