Some benefit financially from conflict - Veep

The Vice-President, Mr. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has said that a sizeable number of conflicts that have bedeviled the nation have been prolonged because of the actions of a selfish few, who stand to gain financially, and mentioned the Alavanyo/Nkonya conflict as one of them.

The Veep made this comment last Friday when he paid a visit to the two (2) feuding factions in his attempt to ensure a resolution to the long-standing feud that has threatened the peaceful co-existence of the people there.

According to him, some unscrupulous few who have been profiting from the conflict, pray that the clash never ends; but pointed out that the interest of those selfish few cannot take priority over that of the larger populace.

He revealed that the conflict was taking a new and completely dangerous nature that cannot be overlooked.

Unhappy with how devastating the clash has become, he said; “it is an act of illegality that farms that are not in the conflict zone are being destroyed…and we need to bring this conflict to an end so that we can make progress as a people”.

According to him, conflicts between neighbouring communities cannot produce a winner, hence the two (Alavanyo, Nkonya) must, as matter of urgency, smoke the peace pipe to end the decade-old dispute that has seen properties destroyed and many lives lost.

In a blunt statement, the Vice-President warned that “the state would not allow one set of people in a community to subdue another set through the force of arms, because, we have more arms than you have and if the IGP were minded to, he could destroy the whole area, so we cannot seek victory in a conflict in a community,”

Announcing that government has plans to take over the disputed borderland between the two towns, Brigadier General Sampson Kudjo Adeti, the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, in an immediate reaction said, part of the disputed land could be used as a military base with training facilities when government finally assumes control.

Also, the Director General of Police Operations, Commissioner of Police (COP) John Kudalor, in his contribution said, part of the land could equally be used to build a permanent Police Station to enhance police operations in the area towards maintaining law and order.

The conciliator of the two feuding faction, Okpekpewuokpe Togbe Dagadu VIII, the Paramount Chief of Akpini Traditional Area on his part said, the peace process ought to be deliberated on a wider scope so the situation would be appreciated by all for a lasting solution to be achieved within the shortest possible time.

“Why can’t we get back to how we lived in peace some centuries back,” the Paramount Chief of the Akpini Traditional Area is reported to have questioned.

The Vice-President was accompanied by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Alhassan, and the National Security Coordinator, Mr. Yaw Donkor.