The peace pact being signed
Opinion leaders from Doba and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region have called for ceasefire to the hostilities between the two feuding communities.
The two communities have been at each other’s throat for years, with the latest clash being recorded a few months into the general election last year, forcing many residents to flee the area.
The municipal and regional security councils working towards an amicable settlement of the protracted dispute have on different occasions restricted movements and there is a current ban on motor riding between 5:00pm and 8:00am.
Over the weekend, the Doba-Kandiga Conflict Resolution Committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice William Atuguba got the heads of the two communities and some other opinion leaders to commit themselves to a peace pact in the presence of the Paramount Chief of Navrongo Traditional Area and the Mirigu Naba.
Others at the meeting were the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu and other members of the Regional and Kassena-Nankana Municipal Security Councils.
The committee is pursing mediation towards the restoration of peace to the area and has sent a strong warning to selfish individuals who are financing and fueling the conflict.
“We want to use this forum to send a very strong signal to all such people forthwith to desist from such activities and allow this commitment that the parties have signed to succeed. We wish to appeal to the media to exercise a very high level of circumspection when reporting on the conflict since their reportage could also jeopardise the peace process,” the committee said.
The Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, called the leadership of the two communities and all other stakeholders to hold on to the commitment to ensure that peace returns to the area.
“We cannot continue destroying the little progress we made. We struggle to make properties and when we have misunderstanding we destroy them. This must stop; we need to use dialogue to settle our misunderstandings, from now,” he stated.
FROM Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga