Land dispute kills 31 persons in Ghana, displaces 48,000 others
Communal clashes in northern Ghana which began last month have resulted in the death of at least 31 persons while displacing over 48,000 others, with more than 13,000 fleeing across the border into neighboring Ivory Coast, officials said on Thursday,
The violence which broke out on August 24 in the village of Gbiniyiri, near the Ivorian border resulted from an escalating land dispute among several communities.
The conflict is said to have begun when the local chief sold a parcel of land to a private developer without broader community consent, prompting violent reactions from residents, as the chief’s palace was set on fire in an escalating course of events.
Such Communal conflicts over land and chieftaincy disputes are said to be a recurrent phenomenon in the north of Ghana, though hardly leading to displacement on this current scale.
According to Ghana’s Interior Minister Mubarak Muntaka in a radio interview on Thursday, 13,253 Ghanaians had crossed into neighboring Ivory Coast, while citing figures from Ivorian authorities.
Philippe Hien, President of the Bounkani Regional Council in Ivory Coast told news sources that 13,000 people have arrived in 17 villages in the area, which is already home to 30,000 refugees from Burkina Faso.
According to Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), about 48,000 people had been forced from their homes, with women and children dominating the figure.
Savannah Regional NADMO Director Zakaria Mahama told news agencies that no gunshots, killings or attacks have been heard for the past five days as some displaced persons have begun to return home, while confirming the death toll of 31.
“Some families are sheltering several dozen relatives in cramped rooms, while those in makeshift displacement camps often only have one meal a day,” Mahama said.
Meanwhile more than 700 military and police officers had been deployed and a curfew declared in the crisis-ridden region while an investigative committee is underway to probe the causes of the conflict and promote reconciliation among the warring parties.
