Dear Editor,

The recent clash between Navy Officers and some youth in Tema over traditional protocols is something that must begin to occupy the minds of well-mean­ing Ghanaians as we approach the period of festivals.

The unfortunate incident resulted in the death of two people with others injured.

The cause of that infraction was definitely over misunder­standing. I believe if the two groups had understood each other, we would not have lost the two bread winners.

I am concerned about this because as we enter the season of festivals among the various ethnic groups, a lot of such incidents could occur because there may be more and more traditional rites.

Usually, what happens is that some unscrupulous youth take advantage of the few tensed moment created by chieftaincy disputes in the area to cause commotion.

It is the reason why our securi­ty services are employed to van­tage points to maintain law and order and safeguard the public property as well as protect lives.

However, in the performance of some of these rites, a few would go overboard and in the process attract either the police or military whose interventions are sometimes misrepresented as unnecessary interference and results in chaotic scenes.

Situations like this happen every year despite the several warnings to the people to ensure a peaceful celebration.

The Tema incident was an un­fortunate one but I feel it should be a wake-up call for the various traditional authorities to engage with the various security agen­cies, especially the police to explain their workings with each other to circumvent such sights.

That would give a better un­derstanding of what is required from each other and also ensure that no one crosses a certain boundary.

Gregory Amuyaw,

Nungua