Christian Tetteh Yohunu, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has told religious leaders to use their influence in sermons to promote peace.
According to the IGP, religious leaders must use their influence to prevent religious tensions and violence.
The IGP noted that an attack on Ghana’s peace ultimately threatens the future of the country’s children.
Christian Tetteh Yohunu added that citizens must not take the law into their own hands.
Speaking at an engagement with religious leaders at the National Police Headquarters on Friday, August 14, the IGP stated, No civilised society can survive when individuals take the law into their own hands. When a citizen believes a crime or an offence has been committed, the only righteous path is to report it to statutory authorities and trust the legal process”.
“Every individual has a right to practice their faith without fear of violence,” he said.
“While speech that incites religious hatred is restricted under Article 20 of the ICCPR, due process and prohibition of extrajudicial harm, no suspect under state custody or in the public space may be subjected to torture, cruel treatment, or assault,” he said.
He added, “Our revered clergy and the imams, our beloved chief imam, they listen to your sermons, read your social media posts, and follow your gestures”.
“At this fragile moment, your words can either act as water upon an emerging fire or as petrol upon dying embers. I ask three key commitments from you today. Dedicate your Friday sermons in Islam and Sunday sermons strictly to messages of interfaith harmony, self-control, and the danger of religious conflict,” he urged.
“Remind your congregations that an attack on the peace of Ghana is an attack on the future of their own children,” Mr Yohunu said.
“ Let the public see Christians and Islamic leaders standing together, sharing meals, issuing joint statements, and walking through our communities hand-in-hand,” he said.
Also, the National Peace Council has asked Ghanaians to protect the country’s religious diversity and ensure that differences in faith do not become a source of conflict.
George Amoh, speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the National Peace Council and the Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, stated that Ghana’s diversity should be treated as a strength and not a weakness.
According to George Amoh, disputes and acts of deviance are expected in every growing society, but he added that Ghana must have effective processes to manage them whenever they occur.
“Violence cannot be used to respond to violent conduct,” he said.
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