Western - National Peace Council

Council ChairmanBishop Emmanuel Botwey

Western Regional Peace Council

About the Region

The Western Regional Peace Council’s (WRPC) Secretariat was set up in September 2013 after the Regional Executive Secretary and Administrative Manager were posted to the Region.

The Secretariat, which has one office with an attached conference room, is located on the first floor of the Western Regional Coordinating Council. The office is directly beneath the Regional Minister’s office.

The Secretariat currently has three permanent staff, that is, the Regional Executive Secretary as the Head of the Secretariat, the Programme Manager and the Administrative Manager. An Accountant is on secondment to the Council.

In July, 2014, the first batch of a 13-Member Regional Peace Council was inaugurated and sworn into office and when their four-year tenure of office expired in June 2018, the second batch was inaugurated and sworn into office in November, 2018.

The work of the Regional Peace Council initially covered 22 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), but increased to 23 MMDAs with the creation of Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly in 2017.

In spite of the creation of the Western North Region which has reduced the coverage area of the Western Region to 14 MMDAs, the Western Regional Peace Council still has oversight responsibility over the rest of the 9 MMDAs at Western North Region. It is expected that, members of the Western North Regional Peace Council will be constituted to take over the 9 MMDAs when an office is opened at Western North Region.

The Regional Peace Council since its establishment, has worked and continue to work to ensure sustainable peace in the Western/Western North Regions.

Key among its achievements include:

The institutionalization of peace education in Senior High/Technical Schools in the Region.
Organization of peace education on radio, Churches, Mosques and public gatherings such as, community, social and political.
Capacity building on conflict prevention, management and resolution for traditional, religious, political, youth and women leaders and groups in the Region.
The resolution of religious, chieftaincy, land and communal disputes.

Regional Executive Secretary

Profile

Mr. Damien Asobayire

Mr. Damien Ayamwuni Asobayire holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Cape Coast-Ghana, Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ghana and Advanced Diploma from the Institute of Commercial Management, UK.

Mr. Asobayire has eighteen (18) years of experience in various fields including peace work. Over these years, Mr. Asobayire has acquired and developed skills and competencies in project/programme design, development and implementation, communication, facilitation, advocacy, networking, negotiation, mediation, dialoguing, administration, research just to mention but a few.

Since he joined the NPC, he has had the opportunity to participate in courses relevant to his work and these include, training on defense in a wider security context from the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre, training for insider mediators from the Clingendael Institute-Netherlands and other numerous training on negotiation and mediation organized by the National Peace Council in collaboration with the University of Cape Coast.

Apart from mediating in conflicts that are brought to the attention of the Council, one major flagship programme initiated and institutionalized in the region since the establishment of the Regional Peace Council is peace education and setting up of peace clubs in the Senior High Schools. The purpose of the programme is to “catch them young”. The peace education programme is intended to inculcate into the students the spirit of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

With this programme, it is expected that violence, which is often characteristic of students’ demonstrations will be prevented.

Members of the peace clubs are expected to be trained as “Peer Mediators” while all students, having been sensitized, will go back to their communities as ”Peace Ambassadors”.

Peace education at Arch Bishop Porter’s Girls Senior High School (SHS).