Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, Upper West Regional Minister has asked people in the region to fight poverty, ignorance and disease and not to fight among themselves.

"Let us try and fight the right issues and practices that undermine our total development.

"We must henceforth channel more of our energy towards the elimination of poverty, ignorance and disease in our midst,” he said in his New Year message to the people of the region".

The Regional Minister urged the people to guide against any form of violence in 2016, which he said is also an election year as the rest of the world once again expects Ghana to show the way.

Alhaji Sulemana asked the people not to take the prevailing peace in the country for granted, while urging them to tolerate each other’s opinions and idiosyncrasies in the midst of political differences.

He called on the people to resort to dialogue and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to address disputes before going into the law courts to settle them.

The Regional Minister said the Regional Coordinating Council’s main goal is to better the lives of the people and called for support and cooperation from all to improve livelihoods.