A group of women under the name ‘Mothers For Peace’ in Mirigu in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, is calling for an immediate cessation of a conflict over land between the people of Doba and Kandiga which has claimed lives and destroyed property.
According to the women, the resort to violence to address disputes only leads to loss of lives and excruciating poverty.
They’re thus calling on the feuding factions to embrace peace and use legal means to resolve their grievances.
In a procession on some streets of Mirigu to petition the Paramount Chief of Mirigu, Naba Abisa Atasige II, over the Doba-Kandiga conflict, queen mother of Mirigu, Pognaba Abisa Amanze-ele said, the impasse between the feuding factions is negatively affecting women in the area and thus called for a ceasefire.
“We are concerned about peace for many reasons because women are victims of gender-based violence and violence against women continues to destroy the lives of women and girls in our communities. We are concerned about increasing violence around our community. Violence is not the ideal approach to dealing with issues as conflicts worsen the already precarious situation that women face.”
“We demand that we follow appropriate channels, formal or informal to address grievances at the household, community, and inter-community levels. We wish to demand an immediate cessation of fighting in Doba and Kandiga and ask all parties to embrace peace. Peace is more valuable than all that we are fighting for, after we have finished killing and destroying one another, we still have to sit down to drink water together and resolve the issue”.
The initiative by SWOPA with funding from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) forms part of efforts for effective conflict prevention and peacebuilding in conflict areas for sustainable development.
Pognaba Amanze-ele, emphasized the need for women’s mobilization and participation in conflict resolution as change agents.
She also encouraged men not to beat up their wives when they go wrong but rather report them to her outfit for redress.
