Tackling Ghana's Endemic Conflicts; My 4-Point Plan

So far, about 300 people are reported to have perished in ongoing clashes in Bawku. Today, a young man is reported to have been shot dead in the area.

It is about time we went radical, as a nation, in our quest to end all these protracted conflicts being fanned by wicked elites, with the youths as proxies!!!

Our nation's meager resources are constantly being sucked-up in maintaining peace in areas the protagonists are not ready to have peace themselves.

And to let such protagonists wakeup from their slumber to smell the coffee, the pumpering must definitely give way to reality, pragmatism and plain talk.

4-point plan
To challenge those bent on engaging in mindless conflicts to create misery for law-abiding citizens of such areas, we take bold decisions.

1. Ghana must opt for the Federal System of governance, where each region uses it's resources for development and economic advancement.

2. Those that jettison peace and tranquility, opt for endless conflicts and never ready to embrace peace, must be left to destroy themselves.

3. And when certain regions have developed their areas through peace, tranquility and hardwork, nobody from the conflict areas must be allowed in.

4. An elite, albeit political or private person from a conflict area, found to be living in a peaceful region, but tacitly fanny trouble back home, must be deported.

Expenditure
The enormous expenditures the State make on keeping peace in these conflict-endemic areas could have been used in productive areas of the economy.

Stress
Besides expenditure, there's a great deal of untold physical and psychological stress inflicted on security personnel deployed in these areas.

And this is a toll which is often never spoken about. But in reality, it's a serious issue that, in a serious country, would be on top of all the discussions.

The reason conflicts in some parts of our country have become so deeply-rooted is that, we've lacked the balls to call out the protagonists.

What we rather are quick to talk about and swiftly condemn, is when a security personnel deployed in a conflict area makes a mistake. Are we fair?!!

In some jurisdictions, such stressed and traumatized personnel sent to the conflict areas, simply pickup arms and engage in these mass shootings.

Unlike places like American and parts of Europe, we in Ghana have been very lucky to have been spared of such terrible incidents, by God's providence.

Indegines
But the point is: are we expected not to speak because we're not indegines of these conflict areas, when our taxes form part of huge cash going to waste?

What's going on in these conflic areas don't make sense, and we must be unequivocal with our condemnation. Why create hell for the vulnerable ones?

When you talk, you're quickly blackmailed with the mantra that "the issue is complex, you don't understand the problem, you're being insensitive" etc.

Curfew
In these days of economic challenges, why would a group of people opt for conflicts to be forced under curfew from 6pm to 6am? Is this not total insanity?

What exactly is a problem in this world that people simply cannot sit down to resolve, and has to take such endless mindless violence and criminalities?

Justice A. Newton-Offei
[email protected]