Joseph Bangu, Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace at NABOCADO, said the structures are what make development possible. He pointed out that weak institutional frameworks, particularly in education and health, pose significant challenges to sustainable progress.
“Structures of what make development possible. If the structures that are supposed to be strengthened to ensure that development leverages are weak, it means that development will actually have a problem.” “When you look at our institutions, be it education, be it health, you will see that the government components are very essential.”
Mr Bangu elaborated on the concept of good governance, highlighting the necessity for functional committees composed of committed members. He stressed that citizen participation is vital; without it, governance efforts may falter. “If you do not have the committee members committed and are not made functional for them to know really what they’re suppose to do, then we’ll end up having problems.”
He emphasised that citizens play a key role in holding political leaders accountable and advocating for their communities, yet their voices are often drowned out by the daily calls. “It’s not as if they don’t care. They care. Sometimes the voices are there but they are submerged under the everyday noise,” he said.
As a faith-based organization, NABOCADO, he said, employs both traditional and modern conflict resolution methods, recognizing the effectiveness of traditional approaches in restoring relationships. “The traditional method doesn’t mean that we will go there but we will facilitate it because the traditional conflict resolution mechanisms are very strong and they are the more restorative. They restore relationships. The authodox, fine, you go through court etc but relationships are broken. So the philosophy with which we come in matter.”
In light of the International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21 annually, Mr Bangu underscored the need to identify vulnerabilities within society to enhance peacebuilding efforts. He warned against the pervasive issues of misinformation and disinformation that threaten societal cohesion, urging caution in the political landscape. “If we get to identify our vulnerable points then we are in a much more valuable positions.” “Politically, we just have to be very careful. The misinformation and disinformation is just too much,” he said.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Gifty Eyram Kudiabor|Bolgatanga|
