A senior lecturer at the Department of History, University of Ghana, Dr Nana James Kwaku Brukum, on Saturday called for major land and chieftaincy reforms to forestall conflicts in the Northern Region.
He said some of the major causes of conflicts in the area were accessibility to land and its usage and the failure to create paramount status for some chiefs, which now rend the situation volatile.
Dr Brukum was presenting a paper on the Northern Ghana Conflicts; the Historical Dimension - the Roots and Issues, at a symposium organised by the Young Peace Builders Network-Ghana, (YPBN-Ghana) and the Apeadu Children's Peace Centre to commemorate the celebration of the International Day of Peace.
He suggested that, "all traditional councils in the region should be compelled to draw new customary laws on land, taking cognisance of changes that had occurred in society.”
According to him this, should be forwarded to the Regional House of Chiefs for further discussion after which acceptance copies should be deposited with the various district assemblies.
He said that those who would need land for commercial and agricultural purposes should collect them from there and pay rent to the district assemblies to end the exploitation by chiefs.
This course of action, he noted, will prevent the chiefs from taking the law into their own hands as happening in the Northern Volta and Northern regions.
He said, "to ensure a durable peace in the north, membership of the Northern Regional Security Council should be reviewed and strengthen to win the confidence of all.
Dr. Burukum pointed out that the present operation of the Council that makes it possible for troops of local warlords to move in open vehicles under the glare of the Council in Tamale with a Regional Police Headquarters and a battalion of the Ghana Army brought to doubt the credibility of the council in its quest for genuine peace in a region that abounds with intra and inter ethnic conflicts.
He urged the government no matter the cost, to publish and implement the findings the recommendation of any committee of enquiry it sets up.
The senior lecturer said appointments to executive positions in the region should be made without compromise to efficiency and competence, and should take into consideration the geo-political nature of the region so that the present virtual caste system is eliminated.
Dr Brukum noted that the conflicts in the north dated back from the 15th century, due to division and non-respect for paramount status.
This was heightened when the colonial masters took over Ghana in the 18th century and with the help of few powerful chiefs cancelled lots of taboos of the people and their land, disregarding other ethnics in the region.
He said similar situations pertained even until now and suggested that paramountcies should be created for all the ethnic groups, while the membership of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs should be expanded to reflect the heterogeneous composition of the region.
"At the moment, only five out of the 18 ethnic groups in the north are represented in the Regional House of chiefs. Therefore, decisions taken by the council, which are supposed to be binding on all, are disregarded by those not represented. They see the House as a place where pronouncements are made by people who do not represent them, in fact, a living relic of colonialism" he noted.
Dr Brukum said to build a stable and durable peace in the north for a sustainable development, it was necessary to form a regional youth association to provide a forum for discussing certain outstanding issues affecting the destinies of the people because youth associations had played both positive and negative roles in the conflict in the region.
The day, which falls on 21 September each year, was set aside by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly, to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its member states and the whole of mankind for the promotion of the ideals of peace and other evident commitment to peace.
The International Day of Peace was initially observed on every third Tuesday of September since it was inaugurated in 1982, until this year. As part of activities for the day, prayer of peace by Bishop Oscar Romero was said and a peace flame was lighted.
Others spoke on topics like the Northern Ghana Conflicts and the Search for Durable Peace, Equipping the African Youth for Peace Building and Development and Fighting Terrorism and the Search for Global Peace.
