{"id":273600,"date":"2016-12-02T12:04:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T12:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=273600"},"modified":"2016-12-02T12:04:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T12:04:03","slug":"election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Development Forum (NDF), has called for peaceful elections on December 7.<\/p>\n

Alarmed by the myriad of chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts that have plagued Northern Ghana over the years, Chairman of the Northern Development Fund, Dr. Hakeem Wemah warned of dire consequences of electoral violence in the area after the December 7 polls.<\/p>\n

The former Board Chairman of the University for Development Studies (UDS), made the call at a news conference in Tamale, where he officially launched the 2015 Northern Ghana Development Status Report codenamed, \u201cSustaining the Northern Ghana development agenda in Ghana\u2019s public domain.\u201d<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”n3MG5tBbgsnE3bXrdpIrOtckSAGYG7kV”]Dr. Hakeem Weimah pinpointed partisan politics as the root cause of conflicts in Northern Ghana though ethnicity, religion, language, land and chieftaincy cannot be overruled.<\/p>\n

He said much was desired of government and development partners to address the nagging issues of poverty, unemployment, human right abuses, weak governance and inequality which make locals feel neglected at the decision making processes.<\/p>\n

The Northern Development Forum Chairman reechoed the need for the youth of the three regions of the north to shun self seeking politicians who might clandestinely bribe them to foment trouble on elections day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question of peace and stability can never be over-emphasized: it is the sine qua none of the major goals of the NDF and so we would like to call on the youth of the three regions of the north in particular to refuse to be goaded and bribed by unscrupulous, greedy and selfish politicians to cause mayhem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is most insulting and disrespectful and too callous for them to expect you to lay down your lives for their parochial interest. Yes, indeed you are brave and strong but for once let politicians and war mongers also be brave and strong and go out and fight their own fight,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hakeem Weimah cautioned the media against announcing or calling election results ahead of the constitutionally mandated Electoral Commission\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n

He also challenged traditional rulers, religious and political leaders to guard against problems that could culminate into electoral disputes in their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo traditional, political, religious leaders and others who hold sway over large populations of this country, consider it is your failure and shame if any problem emanates from your constituency. You must therefore condemn violence and that you will not produce or defend anyone who falls foul of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be very candid with you that the general impression in the country about us is that we are a thoughtless, violent people. Aye the cradle of political, ethnic and occasioned religious upheavals. Any trouble in the country post-elections is predicted by all the pundits to likely come from the north,\u201d he bemoaned.<\/p>\n

The 2016 Development and Policy status report<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Dr. Hakeem Weimah, the report was put together by the Northern Development Forum to satisfy concerned citizens growing demand that empirical evidence be provided them regarding the efforts being made to address Northern Ghana\u2019s development agenda.<\/p>\n

\"90ce5911-1d44-4ff9-8fcc-9ed044b1b6a0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these demands are reaching an agitation proportion which has the potential to threaten the peace if a way is not found to give objective feedback and progress being made and suggestions for improving the development activities in the three Northern Regions of Ghana.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also feel that government and development partners and political parties need objective analyses and avenues to dialogue on what needs improving the three regions in particular and the country in general,\u201d he added.
\n`
\nDr. Hakeem Weimah said the Northern Development Forum was satisfied with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPCs) 40 year .long term development plan.<\/p>\n

He said the report recommended that the NDPC\u2019s long term development plan should ensure equitable distribution of available resources to bridge the developmental disparities between southern and northern Ghana.<\/p>\n

\"ca8d89b7-a87d-4587-a719-1068a550b975\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe NDF\u2019s expectation of this process is that of a transformational agenda that will eliminate the historical injustices and imbalances from our colonial experience. We want to see a future in which the prosperity and economic growth of our beloved country is mutually shared across all regions. It is a serious aberration that some parts of this country especially the north continues to be regarded and accepted as poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe seasonal outflow of able-bodied youth from rural areas and regions of the north to other areas in search of livelihoods and in very precarious conditions is an indictment to our nationhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a vision of national development that prioritizes and harnesses the full potentials of Northern Ghana and every other part of the country and such initiatives should not be tokenistic but all embracing and embedded in national development strategy,\u201d the report highlighted.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hakeem Weimah posited that the Northern Development Forum\u2019s policy status report could guide policy makers in their attempt to implement the long term development plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe report reflects on and proposes pragmatic considerations for policy making, national governance, resources allocation and a frame work to measure Ghana\u2019s implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Union Agenda 2063 and the proposed forty year National Development Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled the first NGOs report focused on agriculture, education, energy and reconciliation and peace building.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Northern Development Forum (NDF), has called for peaceful elections on December 7. Alarmed by the myriad of chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts that have plagued Northern Ghana over the years, Chairman of the Northern Development Fund, Dr. Hakeem Wemah warned of dire consequences of electoral violence in the area after the December […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":273699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2647,2648,58],"tags":[1108,3,6737,12011],"yoast_head":"\nElection 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Northern Development Forum (NDF), has called for peaceful elections on December 7. Alarmed by the myriad of chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts that have plagued Northern Ghana over the years, Chairman of the Northern Development Fund, Dr. Hakeem Wemah warned of dire consequences of electoral violence in the area after the December […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/\",\"name\":\"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2af5176fd89b19b3c31f8a4b9660f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2af5176fd89b19b3c31f8a4b9660f9b\",\"name\":\"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39abdd010da0725707cd850c74a394cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39abdd010da0725707cd850c74a394cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/allotey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"The Northern Development Forum (NDF), has called for peaceful elections on December 7. Alarmed by the myriad of chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts that have plagued Northern Ghana over the years, Chairman of the Northern Development Fund, Dr. Hakeem Wemah warned of dire consequences of electoral violence in the area after the December […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00","author":"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/","name":"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-02T12:04:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2af5176fd89b19b3c31f8a4b9660f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/election-2016-northern-development-forum-advocates-peaceful-elections\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2af5176fd89b19b3c31f8a4b9660f9b","name":"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39abdd010da0725707cd850c74a394cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39abdd010da0725707cd850c74a394cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Godwin Akweiteh Allotey"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/allotey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}