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Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) based in the Northern Region are disturbed by the many unresolved chieftaincy and land disputes in the region, warning that the phenomena could threaten the 2012 general election. They noted that while the Yendi, Bimbilla and Buipe chieftaincy disputes were still lingering due to some disagreements over the resolution process, land issues in the Bunkpurugu area continued to rear its ugly head occasionally, thereby giving hints of possible manifestation of these conflicts during the election period. The CSOs urged the government and the security set up to institute some mechanisms to encourage continuous dialogue among the factions, while tightening security in areas such as Tamale, Yendi, Gusheigu, Bimbilla, Buipe, Tolon and Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo. The CSOs expressed these concerns at a meeting held in Tamale which aimed at bringing all CSOs in the region onto a common platform to work towards a smooth and peaceful general election in December 2012. The platform would identify risks and threats to the elections as they pertain to the region and develop an early warning system that will encourage all stakeholders, especially the government, to institute early response mechanisms to address the threats. STAR Ghana is funding this process, whilst NORSAAC, a gender rights-based CSO, is hosting the platform. The CSOs identified the interference of politicians in law enforcement as another potential threat to peace in 2012. According to them, on countless occasions, politicians in the region had abused their positions to prevent the police from dealing with party members who misconduct themselves during electioneering. However, Chief Inspector Lawrence Adombire of the Tamale Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) assured the CSOs of the readiness of the police service to enforce the law during the elections. He entreated any entity that intended to hold a public event to notify the police in line with the public order act. The CSOs again mentioned the growing influence of violent-inclined youth groups, the use of inflammatory language on the airwaves and the creation of no-go areas by some political parties as other factors that could trigger violence in the region during the election season. �The 2012 elections must be a concern to every organisation because if it goes wrong, all other interventions being implemented by these organisations will fail. Peace must prevail first before other development projects can thrive,� the Director of NORSAAC, Mr Alhassan Mohammed Awal, stated. �NORSAAC works towards securing equal opportunities for women and the youth, and therefore ensuring a peaceful election is crucial to us because if there is violence, the rights of women and the youth are trampled upon and they become victims of abuse,� he added. The Deputy Northern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Eric Nawai, announced that the NCCE had embarked on a campaign to educate voters on who is a citizen since this issue could result in conflicts at some voting centres. He said the NCCE was also hosting the District Inter-Party Dialogue Committees, which he said had been working to manage conflicts among the various parties in the districts. He noted that these committees provided space for the political party leaders to peer review each other and reach a common consensus on how to avoid squabbles.