Women from Doba in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana West District have appealed for the preservation of the prevailing peace between the two communities in the Upper East Region.
They said the communal conflict that ensued between those communities had left deep cuts in their memories and deformed those areas, which should not happen again.
‘We have lost our loved ones, our sons and husbands have been killed, houses have been burnt and this should not happen again, we need to sustain the peace that we have because we are one people,’ they said.
Poganaba Mavis Amenga-Etega, the Queenmother of the Kandiga Community, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, noted that women and children suffered the most during the conflict and urged stakeholders to work together to maintain the peace.
‘Pregnant women could not access healthcare, our children could not access education, many people have lost their businesses, and our community has been backward in terms of development, a
nd we need this peace to get back on our feet,’ she said.
Madam Martha Akawegre from Kandiga noted that unlike before, members of the two communities could visit each other without fear and called for peaceful coexistence to accelerate development.
Madam Patience Abosenka from the Doba community explained that many people lost their houses and livelihoods during the conflict and were finding it difficult to rebuild.
She appealed to the Government and other organisations to support such families to get back their livelihoods.
It would be recalled that Doba and Kandiga were involved in a communal conflict that lasted almost three years due to a misunderstanding over a piece of land leading to the loss of lives and destruction of property.
The communities smoked the peace pipe in 2023 after the intervention of a team of traditional leaders, led by Naba Atogumdeya Akwara II, the Paramount Chief of the Sirigu Traditional Area.
Some women, known as ‘Poyaasi’ and ‘Isi’ formed by the Sirigu Women’s Organisation
for Pottery and Art (SWOPA), a non-government organisation, played critical role in the peace process.
‘Poyaasi’ in the Gurune Language refers to women married in a particular community while ‘Isi’ refers to their children (both boys and girls) born in the marriage and therefore the Poyaasi and Isi concept was to promote intercommunity ties for sustainable peace.
Currently the chiefs and people of the two communities interact and engage in social and economic activities and visit each other’s communities freely without fear.
The people engage in farming activities, traders’ access markets, and children attend school freely within those communities.
The Poyaasi and Isi organised food and cultural festivals, which brought together chiefs and people to fraternise.
Ms Bridget Adongo Akasise, the Manager, SWOPA, commended the people for smoking the peace pipe and the women for sustaining activities that continue to unite the communities.
She said SWOPA with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives,
formed the ‘Poyaasi’ and ‘Isi’ to implement a peace project in Doba, Yua, Kandiga, Mirigu, Nabango and Sirigu to support peace efforts.
Source: Ghana News Agency