Dear beloved Constituent,
Peace is priceless, but conflict is addictive. Let’s silence the guns.
From 2006 to 2008, while serving with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), and later with the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as Senior Investigations Advisor and later Acting Special Assistant to the Police Commissioner, I was privileged to join a delegation led by Jean-Marie Guéhenno, then UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, on a visit to a rebel group in the Darfur Region. The Mission’s Force Commander and Police Commissioner were also part of the delegation.
The spokesperson for the rebel group was a professor who had resigned from a prestigious foreign university and returned home to join the armed struggle for what they believed was a legitimate cause.
The professor gave us a 30-minute briefing, explaining why they had taken up arms. After his presentation, the atmosphere became silent.
The Mission’s Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai, a four-star General from the Nigerian Armed Forces, broke the silence. He stood up, cleared his throat, thanked the rebels for their honesty and hospitality, and then left them with these words:
“I have served as a soldier for more than three decades, yet I am still to witness a conflict won through the use of bullets. No matter how many bullets are fired, peace is ultimately found around the table where people choose to talk. Kindly open your doors to dialogue. It is the best option.”
Those words have stayed with me ever since.
I share this experience to encourage all factions involved in conflicts across Ghana, especially violent ones, to remember that we cannot shoot our way to peace. When lives are lost, nobody truly wins. You cannot claim victory because your opponent has lost more people.
I therefore encourage my people in Lassia-Tuolu, Kendeu, and Wechiau to return to the mediation table while allowing the relevant state institutions to handle all matters arising from the conflict that erupted in June 2024 and continues to threaten our peace and security.
Let us shoot words across the table in search of lasting peace—not bullets that can only kill and never heal.
The truth is, suffering such losses is painful. But more deaths can never be the path to peace. Let us silence the guns and raise our voices for dialogue.
Peace will not be handed to us by outsiders. We must choose it ourselves, with wisdom, courage, and restraint, even in moments of deep emotion.
This too shall pass.
Writer: Peter Lanchene Toobu. MP, Wa West
