Ghana’s security is becoming evermore questionable following yet another attack by gunmen which has claimed the lives of eight travellers.
Reports indicate that some eight individuals traveling within the north of Ghana have lost their lives following an encounter with gunmen who had mounted a roadblock in search of their target. The assailants reportedly blocked the Bolgatanga-Tamale highway and opened fire on the vehicle in which the eight deceased people were.
The assailants subjected passengers to rigorous interrogations, which later turned violent, according to reports.
“I was traveling from Sunyani to Paga. Upon reaching Walewale, people had mounted roadblocks and were searching for individuals to kill. The incident lasted for more than an hour, yet security did not respond,” a surviving passenger narrated.
The vehicle was set ablaze after the eight individuals were killed.
The incident underscores the public’s worry about a great gap seen in Ghana’s security system, as there seems to be a culture of untimely intervention in various alarming situations, resulting in the horrible death of many.
Meanwhile, it is believed that the gory incident is an extension of the Bawku conflict, a chieftaincy conflict spanning decades without concrete solutions. Reports are indicating that the conflict has resurfaced after a short period of calm within the region.
The Ghana Police Service has responded with a statement assuring the public of intensified security on the highway in the coming days.The statement added that the police are putting in efforts to control security situations in Bawku and adjoining towns.
“The security agencies would like to once again assure the public that we are committed to maintaining peace, security, law and order in Bawku and its environs.”
This news follows a recent report by the Reuters, revealing security concerns at Ghana’s northern borders. According to the report, Jihadist militants are using the Northern part of Ghana as a refugee and logistics base. Experts have since been discussing the security ramifications.
About the Bawku Conflict
The Kusasi-Mamprusi Conflict in Bawku: A Legacy of British Colonial Policy in Northern Ghana Felix Y. T. Longi (2014)
Introduction
“Post-colonial Africa has witnessed a phenomenal increase in conflicts of various magnitudes, mostly arising out of disagreements over a variety of issues including ownership of land, succession to chieftaincy titles, and resource allocation, among others.
The West African sub-region has had its fair share of these upheavals, notably in Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Cote d’Ivoire. Ghana is among the few countries in West Africa perceived to be oasis of peace in a sub-region otherwise characterized by civil wars, rebel activities and general instability.
This image of Ghana, however, only masks a festering wound of communal violence, inter-ethnic conflicts and armed confrontations in the Northern part of Ghana.
The root causes of these conflicts, which have almost become persistent, are largely traceable to the introduction of secular political authority/chieftaincy in areas which, before colonialism, were described as stateless or acephalous. The security of the entire country has often been compromised by the scope of unrest, wanton loss of lives and property, waste of the nation’s scarce resources and the dislocation of people.”
“Generally, scholars are divided in their discussion of the root causes of inter-ethnic conflicts that occur in Northern Ghana as a result of disputes over succession to a chieftaincy title or office. One school of thought traced the genesis of these conflicts to [End Page 157] attempts by anthropologists and the colonial administration to categorize societies in that part of the country into acephalous/non-centralized and centralized groups, while the other school of thought identified other factors beyond the colonial enterprise.”
This is a short part of an elaborated piece by the author on the Bawku conflict.
Source: Dehotpress
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