The underlying reason for the increasing spate of political violence is the complete breakdown of social cohesion, a high ranking member of the Convention People’s party has said.

According to Dr. Abu Sakara the 2nd vice chairman of the CPP the citizens have undermined the traditional systems that kept them together, and has therefore culminated into needless violence.

Speaking on Joy Fm super morning show, Dr. Abu Sakara with representative of two other political parties, the New Patriotic Party, and the National Democratic Congress, all condemned the violence that occurred in the Northern Region, which led to six deaths and loss of properties.

Jake Obetsebi Lamptey who is chairman of the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign team, called for an end to accusations, saying, “when you point one finger at another, you have three fingers pointing at you.”

He said our democracy has gone too far to allow a few misguided thugs to derail our progress.

While agreeing with the sentiments shared by Lamptey, Hon Abu Sumani NDC MP for Tamale North said some underlying issues need to be addressed first.

Sounding more proverbial, Hon. Sumani said "a wound need to be cleaned before it gets healed." He also attributed the increasing spate of violence to the culture of impunity, in the region.

Dr. Abu Sakara however called on government to clearly separate its duties as a government and a competitor in the upcoming elections. "The rules must be set and allowed to work without favour to any political party," he added.

He said the lack of political leadership in publicly condemning acts of violence by their followers is in itself part of the problem.

The representatives agreed for all the leaders of the various political parties to jointly appear on one platform to drum home the need for a peaceful election.

A sucurity analyst Emmanuel Bombande who is also the Executive Director of the West Africa Network for peace building has called for adequate resources to be made available to the security personnel in the northern region to ensure rapid response capacity of the police.

He however disagreed with the use of the military in maintaining law and order in the trouble spots.

Meanwhile a 7:00 pm - 4: am curfew has been placed on the Gushegu traditional area to avert needless bloodshed and loss of properties.

Author: Nathan Gadugah