Ghana, nestled in Africa’s western region where the continent bulges against the ocean, does not have a peaceful history.

More than 2,000 people died in what Ghanians call “the 1994 Conflict.” That clash, among the nation’s northern people, was about land, said Edward Adimazoya, Catholic Relief Services program officer in Ghana. He supervises the Northern Ghana Peace Building and Transformation Project (commonly called the “Peace Project”).

All tribal groups have a chief, he
explained, but the chief is not necessarily a king. Kings control access to land, granting farmers permission to use the land. A family does not know year-to-year whether they will be allowed to stay.

While the system of tribal kings controlling the land remains the same, following the 1994 clash Ghanians agreed there needed to be a better way to resolve such disagreements.

Today, the Peace Project supports conflict resolution training. Development workers, students, parliament members, tribal chiefs and villagers interested in building peace in the area have all participated in CRS workshops.

“The Peace Project is challenging because it can’t be measured like other projects. We can only measure the effect through responses and reactions,” Adimazoya said.

People in Attributu, a village of fewer than 2,000 people, have seen the benefits of the Peace Project.

“It is a great help to us especially during the political time,” Yaku Bu Casoto said referring to last December’s presidential elections. “I learned that someone supporting a different political party doesn’t mean they are opposed to me personally.”

The program benefits people outside election time as well.

“I have some experiences with this,” Ajara Saaka said as she stood up and put her hand on her hip. “There was a woman who would go to the water well with many containers and fill them all without allowing others to take a turn.” Since conflict resolution training, Saaka met with other women and created a rule that each person could fill one container at a time and then let the others in line have a turn.

Saaka says she used to avoid conflicts, but now wants to intervene when she sees a problem. Do people get angry with her for trying to intervene? “Oh, yes,” Saaka said. “It’s never easy.”

Adimazoya explained successes of the project that a visitor might not realize. “Normally in the villages, the women do not speak at meetings,” he said. “They often do not know enough about the topics, so their husbands speak for them.” The women in this village speak their minds and the men support them.

Moruguwura Yakubu, village chief for 25 years, says he is proud of the people. “I’m very happy about the Peace Project. Because of the training, our problems have not grown serious. That doesn’t mean problems don’t exist. They do, but we solve them between myself and my people.”

—Chris Spoons

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