Land, chieftaincy conflicts retard development

Protracted chieftaincy disputes and inter-communal conflicts threaten the peace and stability of our country, otherwise touted as the oasis of peace in a turbulent sub-region.

Our country is a generally peaceful place to live and engage in any human endeavour. However, some conflicts in certain communities in almost all parts of the country create the impression of a society at war with itself.

For many years, the people of Nkonya and Alavanyo have been at each other’s throat in land litigation.

From the account of the paramount chiefs of the protagonists during the visit of the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur to Kpando yesterday, to meet the parties, it appears the issue has gone beyond the conflict over land. Some of them are asking the government to put the land issue aside and investigate the criminal actions of the factions in dispute.

The conflict has made it difficult for  people to go about their daily endeavours without let or hindrance, thereby disrupting the local economy.

The Daily Graphic calls on the people to heed the appeal of the Vice-President that the conflict would not produce a winner or loser and let the guns go silent.

We are equally concerned about the Nkonya/Alavanyo conflict and others elsewhere because of their ramifications on the development process.

Before the end of last year, President John Mahama appealed to the factions in the Bawku conflict to smoke the peace pipe and give peace a chance.

Bawku, at one time a very busy commercial town, is struggling to rebuild from the ashes of protracted conflict.

Yendi, the headquarters of Dagbon, is also trying to rediscover its glory before the conflict in 2002 that led to the gruesome murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II.

It is sad that in most of our major paramountcies today, there is no peace as there is either a chieftaincy dispute  or there are two chiefs claiming legitimacy of their authority over the throne. 

Chieftaincy is acknowledged in the 1992 Constitution and the government is debarred from interfering in its affairs.

The government has on a number of occasions made it clear, however, that it will not sit down for the peace of the state to be breached by those who for their selfish interests want to ascend to stools and skins.

Government resources are inadequate to cater for the needs of the peoplet that is why the state, through the government, must apply the resources at its disposal to stop litigants from making life uncomfortable for peace-loving people.

The Daily Graphic appeals to the government, as a matter of urgency, to mobilise resources at its disposal to end all these conflicts in the country.

We equally appeal to the parties in the disputes; whether they are at Nkonya/Alavanyo, Bawku, Dagbon or other places with chieftaincy and land  disputes, to smoke the peace pipe so that the government can implement its programmes and projects peacefully.