We’ve not been able to address chieftaincy and land disputes because of our short-term solutions – Analyst

Security analyst Adib Saani emphasizes the need for a long-term solution to address persistent chieftaincy and land disputes in the country.

"These disputes across the country have long-term consequences, highlighting the necessity for our national security to implement long-term solutions to solve them," he argued.

He was responding to the violent clashes in Wa West Municipality, which claimed three lives on Sunday, June 17, 2024.

Mr. Saani agreed that deploying joint police and military forces to areas plagued by conflicts over chieftaincy and land-related concerns is a short-term solution that does not address the issues comprehensively.

Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he said the situation in Wa West and other areas is not surprising because we have over 350 unresolved chieftaincy and land disputes nationwide.

"In most cases, these chieftaincy and land disputes rise and fall, and when the tensions subside, we presume the matter has been settled. However, the factions involved renew their conflicts. So it would be impossible to deal with them unless there was a purposeful attempt to resolve the underlying difficulties, particularly by employing traditional methods, including the use of traditional institutions.

"If we don’t take care, we may not resolve these disputes. Deploying the police is good and will stop the clashes in the interim, but it will not resolve the conflicts in the long-term. Until, as a matter of national security priority, we set up a body to address the systematic myriad of land and chieftaincy disputes, from the Upper East to the Upper West, from Greater Accra to Volta to Oti to the Western North, and address these issues, it will be difficult for these problems to be resolved," he said.