Violent clashes over a land dispute at Gbiniyiri in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region has claimed at least 31 lives and left nearly 48,000 others displaced.

The disturbances reportedly stemmed from renewed conflict over a parcel of land no bigger than a room on August 24, 2025, claiming lives and destroying farms, homes and other properties in affected communities.

Casualties and destruction
At least 31 people have been killed since the clashes began as the conflict has spread to about 12 communities in the district.

Residents of villages such as Seiyiri, Nasoyiri, Bodi, Kakiase, Gbogdaa, and Doli have fled their homes and abandoned their farms and properties.

Displacement and humanitarian situation
According to official reports, nearly 48,000 residents have been displaced while more than 14,000 people have fled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

Ivorian authorities have confirmed that it has taken in about 13,253 Ghanaian refugees.

Thousands remain in makeshift camps in Sawla, supported by the Ghana Red Cross and NADMO while others have sought refuge in parts of the Bono and Upper West Regions.

Victims have reported dire humanitarian conditions, with some families fed only once a day.

In the Wenchi Municipality (Bono Region), more than 800 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are being hosted in communities like Subinso Number Two.

Death toll in Gbiniyiri hits 31 as violence clashes spread to 12 communities

Government and institutional response
The Minister of the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka confirmed the displacement figures and assured that government, district assemblies, and international partners are coordinating to bring relief to victims.

Nana Pantu Nangor II, the Chief of Subinso Number Two in the Wenchi Municipality of the Bono Region, has appealed to the government to register the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of the Gbinyiri clashes sheltered in the area on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He expressed worry that the health conditions of many of the IPDs, mostly children and nursing mothers, keep deteriorating.

He pleaded that they needed the health insurance cards to seek medical attention and called for more humanitarian aid for their upkeep too.

Nana Nangor II made the appeal in an interview with the media when Major (Rtd) Dr Joseph Bikankyi Kuyo, the Director General of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) visited the community.

'We eat only once a day' – Distraught victim of Gbiniyiri unrest cries

MRA/VPO

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