The Member of Parliament for the Builsa South constituency, Honorable Dr. Clement Apaak during an engagement with students at the Jiningsa School on Friday 7th June, 2024, urged students to be agents of peace in the upcoming 2024 elections. This was part of the National Commission for Civic Education‘s citizenship week celebration.
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE‘s), constitutional mandate is to create and sustain the awareness of the principles and objectives of the 1992 Constitution in the citizenry. Among the strategies to execute its mandate is the Annual Citizenship Week Celebration (CWC), a flagship program which targets the 8,130 basic school pupils across the country to mentor and empower them as change agents responsible for building a peaceful and a clean Ghana. The Citizenship Week is designed to feature eminent personalities who are considered worthy role models in society to interact and impart virtues of good citizenship to school pupils.
The member of parliament also educated students on the roles of his office in the constituency. During an interactive session, students’ inquiries around issues of development, education and health were answered by the MP. As a member of the educational select committee in parliament, he also encouraged the students to continue to show interest in education by studying hard.
The district director for the NCCE in the Builsa South district, Mrs. Caroline Aliko, also engaged students on the theme for this year’s citizenship “Children, Let’s Build Ghana Together”. She highlighted the important role they play as children in ensuring peaceful elections. As a source of vitality and powerful agents of peace, the students were reminded to be catalyst for peacebuilding by educating themselves and others, advocating for peace, engaging in community activities, modeling peaceful behavior to contribute to a more peaceful and democratic society. They were also encouraged to engage their peers, families and communities to promote peaceful dialogue, respect for diversity, and non-violent conflict resolution.
Marking “Green Ghana day” as well, both speakers also highlighted the importance of continuously ensuring a clean and sustainable environment. Hon Dr. Clement Apaak commended the school for their clean school environment, encouraging them to maintaining the conducive environment to aid their learning. As a law maker, he premised this from Article 41(g and k) of the 1992 Constitution, which enjoins every citizen Art. 41(g) “To contribute to the well-being of the community in which they live; and Art.41(k) “To protect and safeguard the environment”. The NCCE director added that, the students should promote good environmental practice and plant trees in their school and communities.
At the end of the engagement, the member of Parliament of the Builsa South constituency donated books to the students and promised them more, should they continue to be good citizens and play active roles in ensuring a peaceful and democratic election in the upcoming December polls.
The NCCE director also re-iterated the presence of the member of parliament as an ardent advocate of social development and a role model, clearing any suggestions of his presence there as a political agenda. She added that, the NCCE as a governmental agency is committed to their mandate to the citizens regardless of their political affiliations.
The head teacher, staff and the entire student body appreciated the opportunity to engage with the member of parliament despite his busy schedule.
The member of parliament also expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to speak on this year’s citizenship week celebrations in his constituency.
