3 dead, 10 houses burnt in Upper East over land dispute

Renewed clashes between Kandiga and Doba communities in the Upper East region over land issues have led to the death of three people whiles 10 homes have been set ablaze.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Francis Oppong Agyare, the chaos broke following the murder of a young man in the community.

“A 23-year-old man was murdered on his way to the farm. The man is from Kandiga, but allied to the Doba Chief. So he was killed by people believed to have come from Kandiga, which triggered the clash again. It subsequently turned into a conflict between some members of the Kandiga community, those who they think aligned themselves to the Doba Chief were targeted,” DSP Agyare told the Ghanaian Times Newspaper.

According to the Police Command in Kassena-Nankana Municipal, the police were able to arrest 11 persons in connection with the chaos. The police also managed to swoop the communities and succeeded in retrieving some weapons from the suspects. The weapons included, a pump action gun, three single barrel guns and12 live cartridges.

DSP Agyare also explained that it took the intervention of the Ghana Fire Service team to quench the raging fire on Saturday dawn after the police got a distress call on the clash.

He also added that the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) imposed a curfew in the area following the clashes in June.

Background

In June 2020, six people were reportedly murdered and 12 houses burnt after some residents from Doba and Kantiga clashed over land intended for a police station project. Ten people were picked up upon investigation in connection with the violence and were later put before court.