Emerging Local Voices and New Possibilities toward Attaining Sustainable Peace in Bawku, north-eastern Ghana

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/ajcr.v23i1.16787

Keywords:

Bawku conflict, Chieftaincy conflict, Peacebuilding, Conflict resolution, Ghana

Abstract

Globally, conflicts continue to change dynamics and increase in complexity, weakening the potential of various peacebuilding interventions, especially in the Global South. The Bawku crisis is a notable protracted conflict in Ghana and West Africa, which attracts enormous scholarly debates, especially on how to attain sustained peace in the area. However, there remains some important dynamics that are not significantly explored in the discussions on achieving sustained peace in Bawku. Drawing on in-depth field interviews, we present a new perspective on chieftaincy and landownership (and use), shifting from absolute control to a shared system, aimed at potentially resolving conflicts. The proposed shared political and landownership system also reveals important weaknesses relating to existing court verdicts and scholarly advocacy for a parallel system or the resettlement of the Mamprusi outside of the area. However, this empirical contribution offers a new possibility to resolve the Bawku crisis and similar challenges in Ghana and Africa.

Author Biographies

  • Aminu Dramani, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

    Dr Aminu Dramani is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and Political Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana.

  • Sebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

    Dr Sebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo is a Lecturer at the Department of History and Political Studies (KNUST).

  • Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

    Prof Samuel Adu-Gyamfi is an Applied Historian at the Department of History and Political Studies (KNUST).

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Published

2023-08-31

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Vol. 23 No. 1 (2023)

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“Emerging Local Voices and New Possibilities toward Attaining Sustainable Peace in Bawku, north-eastern Ghana” (2023) African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 23(1). doi:10.17159/ajcr.v23i1.16787.