Let there be peace in Alavanyo, Nkonya

Alavanyo and Nkonya are in the news again and as is expected, for the wrong reason. Renewed hostilities over land in the two traditional areas left two more people dead.

There has been a long-standing dispute between Alavanyo and Nkonya. The conflict began on May 24, 1923 and was amicably settled but resurrected 60 years later in 1983 and since then, it has assumed different dimensions.

On various occasions that hostilities had erupted between the two traditional areas, the governments had put in place various interventions to end the conflict. Few years ago, the paramount chiefs of the two traditional areas stood before the cameras to smoke the peace pipe. Perhaps it was a public relation gimmick.

In a country where majority of the people are struggling to live above the poverty line, it is not good enough for some of our compatriots to engage in needless communal or ethnic conflicts.

When these conflicts break out, government budgets are overstretched because resources meant for the development process are diverted for peacekeeping operations.

In addition, the local economy is derailed as traders and farmers are unable to pursue their daily activities.

In the specific case of the Alavanyo and Nkonya conflict, it is difficult to understand why a solution has eluded the state and the protagonists all this while. Perhaps, the people who are affected do not seem to care about the harm that their actions and inaction are doing to themselves and the nation’s reputation.

Some people have suggested a more revolutionary approach to the issue. They have suggested that the state should confiscate the land and the two paramount chiefs debarred from taking part in any national activities.

Maybe for now, the state, and for that matter the government, must take another look at the response to the conflict because it appears the actions of the government are yielding no results.

They say this because governments in the past and other stakeholders such as the National Peace Council (NPC), religious leaders, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council and security agencies have not been very successful in addressing the land dispute. At best, they managed to “douse” the fire only for it to erupt when everybody had gone to sleep.

The Daily Graphic believes that this firefighting approach is unproductive and cannot resolve the crisis. We are worried that in the whole of the Volta Region, these two traditional areas have become notorious for holding the country to ransom by their “appetite” for violence.

It must be clear to all of us by now that progress and prosperity cannot thrive in a conflict situation. The country needs all its resources to be channelled into the provision of good hospitals, schools, roads and the creation of jobs to offer hope for a better future.

As things stand now, the people of Alavanyo and Nkonya cannot have peace to ply their trades. They are mostly farmers and when dark clouds hang over the communities, the people cannot go to their farms to earn a living.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, appeals to all the people in the dispute to let the guns go silent so that law-abiding citizens can go about their duties without fear.