Doba-Kandiga conflict: KNM Assembly spends almost GH¢700,000 on security agencies
From April 2020 to September 2021, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Assembly in the Upper East Region has spent a total of GH¢693,364.89 to cater for the security personnel stationed there to maintain law and order as a result of the impasse between the people of Doba and Kandiga.
The amount was spent on only feeding, fueling, and post-mortem servicing and excludes expenditure on the provision of shades, an extension of electricity to the shade, Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) meetings among others.
These were revealed at Navrongo by Mr Williams Aduum, the Outgoing Municipal Chief Executive for the area during the first ordinary meeting of the Assembly.
It would be recalled that in April, 2020, a communal conflict ensued between the two communities, Doba in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana West District over the ownership of a piece of land at Akonkongo-Abempengo Electoral Area, where a Police post and a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound were to be constructed.
The conflict then led to gunshots from the two factions leading to loss of lives, destruction of properties such as houses and farmlands.
It also caused people to seek refuge elsewhere which prompted the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to impose a curfew in the area and formed a joint military and police operation team to keep the place calm and maintain law and order.
According to Mr Aduum, the amount spent on security services was adversely affecting the implementation of the development projects of the Assembly and called on major stakeholders of the two communities to resolve the dispute.
The Outgoing MCE said a Mediation Team led by a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice William Atuguba has been constituted and was working to restore peace in the feuding communities.
“Following interactions with both parties by the Mediation Team, a peace pact has been signed at the Regional Coordinating Council witnessed by the Regional Minister and other REGSEC members involving the feuding factions as a road map to allow peace to prevail.
“I want to urge the feuding factions to collaborate with the mediators to help restore peace to the area for development to strive because the amount mentioned could have been used to construct about three CHPS compounds,” he stressed.
Mr Aduum explained that the Municipal Assembly had also been providing support to the MUSEC to clamp down on criminal activities particularly armed robbery, adding “this I must say is making it impossible for the Assembly to undertake development projects and programmes in the Municipality.”
He said the MUSEC had adopted and implemented a day and night patrol strategy by the Ghana Police Service along the areas considered as hotspots such as Naaga, Kologo, Natugnia, Pungu among others.
“It is worth noting that these strategies, among others and yielding fruitful results and will continue until such a time that we are able to flush out criminals at those areas and the Assembly has been providing the security personnel with the needed support for effective patrols.
“I want to urge all of us to try to volunteer information about suspected criminals to help get rid of criminals in the Municipality and beyond as the police alone cannot singlehandedly fight crime,” he added.
Source: GNA