The peace treaty between the people of Alavanyo-Nkonya in the Volta region has suffered another breach with the shooting of a linguist at Alavanyo-Agorme on Sunday.
The shooting of the Amankrado Nana Stephen, who is on admission at the Margaret Marquart Hospital in Kpando, is considered as a setback to jeopardise efforts to restore peace in the area after many decades of the boundary conflict between the Alavanyo-Nkonya communities.
Assailants were said to have attacked a house and opened fire on a 62-year-old Amankralo, who sustained pellet wounds in his left arm.
The police are currently investigating the shooting, but security experts say the incident indicates that the peace efforts have not been entrenched.
The incident comes at a time the Volta Regional Coordinating Council is attempting to offer counselling services for victims of the perennial clashes to avoid reprisal attacks.
Recently, the government announced that it has taken over the disputed land which has been the source of the protracted conflict between the people of Nkonya and Alavanyo, for military use.
The government believed that the occupation of the disputed land by the army for training purposes would help to ensure peace by deterring the parties from engaging in clashes and also enable people to farm.
This came in the wake of increasing calls for the decades-old land conflict which started in 1923, to be resolved through the use of Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.
Security analysts say the conflict has grown beyond the disputed land into multiple dimensions including political, chieftaincy and farming interests, which require a multifaceted approach using dialogue.
Aware of the multi-dimensional nature of the conflict, Dr Archibald Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, indicated that the government’s takeover of the land “is just one of the strategies” towards bringing lasting peace to the area.
By Nii Adotey/adrdaily.com
