Ghana is in safe hands — Gen Quainoo

a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Ghana Armed Forces, General Arnold Quainoo, has noted that President John Atta Mills has put the nation in safe hands with the calibre of men he has appointed to form the national security team.
He said the selection of the security heads was so far the most appropriate to meet the security challenges facing the country.
Gen Quainoo was referring to the appointment of Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (retd) as the National Security Adviser; Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey as the acting National Security Co-ordinator and Mr Yaw Donkor as the acting Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) at a training programme on conflict resolution for some security personnel in Accra yesterday.
He described the three as men of proven record and integrity, hardworking and result-oriented, having himself worked with them in the past, adding that they were brilliant and fine gentlemen.
Asked if he had expected to play any of those roles, he replied in the affirmative, saying, “Anybody who worked hard for the NDC to come back to power certainly expects to be given an appointment.”
He added, however, that as a member of the Council of State, he would bring the totality of his experience to bear on the council.
Gen Quainoo, who is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CENCOR), said enough had not been done on peace-building in Ghana and the sub-region.
He said too much attention had been given to peace-keeping, to the neglect of peace-making and peace-building, which he saw as essential elements in restoring peace in areas of conflict.
The objective of training for conflict resolution, he said, was to facilitate the promotion of peace in Ghana and the West-African sub-region in general, stating that many years on the crisis in Congo still prevailed and would exist until an appropriate alternative in resolving the conflict was adopted.
He explained that based on his experiences in Congo and Liberia, he had realised that although it would take a lot of time, Ghanaians and Africans in general could solve their own problems without foreign intervention, hence his resolve to set up CENCOR to spearhead that agenda.
He stressed the need to involve more women in the peace processes and further urged that the art or skill of peace-making and peace-building should be taught in schools.
That, he said, was because enough had not been done on peace education, and, therefore, suggested that all government and non-governmental institutions which contributed towards peace-building should co-ordinate their efforts in educating the populace on the essence of peace.
A resource person for Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB) and CENCOR, Mr Allan E. Gross, said resorting to alternative dispute resolution was the best approach to reducing the number of litigation in court.
He said that approach was generally effective in cultural clashes or ethnic disputes because through mediation the parties themselves self-determine an amicable solution to their dispute.