Fighting for peace: Assessing the role of the government in the Guinea Fowl War of 1994

Abstract

This thesis is a historical work on the relationship between ethnic groups in the Northern Part of Ghana. There have been several ethnic conflicts in Ghana since Ghana attained independence in 1957. My thesis focuses on the 1994 ethnic conflict between the Konkomba and the Nanumba which eventually attracted allies to both sides of the warring factions. The Konkombas have had a history of violent conflict with different ethnic groups since colonial times. Before the 1994 GFW, there was the 1981 Pito war between the Konkomba and the Nanumba which had claimed several hundreds of lives. A repeat of another war between same adversaries a little over a decade raises serious concerns about governments role in preventing and finding lasting solutions to these ethnic armed conflicts. Drawing on multiple sources of data such as newspaper reports, archival material, official documents from the Northern Region House of Chiefs and personal interviews, this thesis attempt to trace the causes of the 1994 GFW as perceived by both sides of the warring factions. These causes of the ethnic conflict which I discuss borders on chieftaincy, land ownership rights and access to a quasi-government institution. My thesis also examines the actions, inactions and peace initiative of government before, during and after the war and how the government’s decisions have either contributed to the realization of peace or saw to the continuation of violence. This thesis analyses government’s response in terms of the provision of security and their efforts at constituting a commission of enquiry to find lasting solutions to the root causes of the Guinea Fowl.