His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has called on parties involved in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe to lay down their arms and embrace peace, stressing that global peace is essential. “From Kyiv to Tehran, Tel Aviv to Beirut, we plead for peace to prevail,” he said.
Speaking at the Executive Dinner Ball held in his honour as a ‘Pillar of Peace’ to mark his 27th coronation anniversary, the king noted that Ghana’s own peace cannot be fully realised without peace in those regions. “Peace is indivisible. It cannot be preserved or protected in isolation. In the global village that is our world, there is no such thing as an isolated conflict, and no one is immune from the ravages of conflict anywhere,” he said.
“Wherever peace is threatened, the whole world is threatened.
“So we cannot talk about peace in Ghana without feeling the crushing weight and corrosive impact of wars raging in Europe and the Middle East.”
Collateral damage
Expressing concern over recent developments, he stated: “The heart-wrenching suffering we are seeing on the airwaves is only the tip of the iceberg. “The true collateral damage to innocent communities across the globe is yet to be measured. The innocent billions in the world who are collateral victims are crying in silence, and their cries of anguish and tears can no longer be ignored. Nor can our hearts bear the continuous suffering of those who are the direct victims of these wars.”
