A none-denominational service was held on Saturday 25th February, 2023 at the Akunkungo Catholic Church park to reconcile the Doba and Kandiga communities who have being at loggerheads over land ownership for some years now and to cleanse the land off blood that was shared during the period of the conflict to mark the end of the protracted land conflict that claimed several lives and properties.
Present at the very important occasion were the Paramount Chief of the Sirigu Traditional Area, the Paramount chief of Mirigu Traditional Area, Chief of Kandiga, his elders and members of the Kandiga community, the Chief of Doba and his elders and community members, Bishop of the Navrongo Bolgatanga Diocese, Most Rev. Bishop Alfred Agenta, the Municipal Chief Executive of Kasena Nankana East, Hon. Joseph Adongo, District Chief Executive of Kasena Nankana West, Hon. Gerard Ataogye, security personnel, the clergy and chiefs from Burkina Faso.
Bishop of the Navrongo Bolgatanga Dioces, Most Rev. Bishop Alfred Agenta, led the cleansing ceremony together with representatives from various religious denominations. The Bishop cleansed the land off the blood that has been spilled as a result of the conflict by sprinkling holy water on the land to signify the purification and restoration of the land to its original state. The word of exhortation was shared. Most Rev. Bishop Alfred Agenta prayed for the forgiveness of the sins of the communities and prayed for the restoration of the blessings of the land.
Naba Atogumdeya Akwara III in his remarks, said the the people of Doba and Kandiga should not have fought because they are from a common ancestor. He expressed joy at the resolution of the two parties to lay down their weapons and to use nonviolence means to resolve their conflict.
“The people of Doba and Kandiga are culturally and historically one people with a common ancestor. In local parlance, they are ‘sowiba’, that is, “one father different mothers”. Besides, the majority of married women in Doba are from Kandiga, and the same can be said of Kandiga. So, you see, we are interrelated in a complex way and don’t need to fight each other. We are happy that Doba and Kandiga have come to this reality and have decided to use peaceful, non-violent means to resolve their grievances.”
Naba Akwara, urged the people to rather channel all their energies into productive actives that will bring development and end the common enemy which is poverty that has engulfed the region as a result of long years of neglect by successive governments.
“Our true enemy is poverty, which is an ancestral heritage that successive governments since colonial times have failed to tackle. Names like Atignongo, Anongobuno, etc shows the pervasiveness of poverty in this area. Furthermore, when you greet anyone in this area “good morning or bulika” the response, is I haven’t gotten food to eat but if I get I will eat. A hungry mouth, they say, is an angry mouth. Statistics have shown that, the Upper East Region is the poorest in Ghana due to years of neglect and disinvestment by successive governments.”
The paramount Chief appealed to government to address the structural the structural causes of poverty in the area since the poverty situation in the area has worsened.
“Indeed, since the Acheampong era, no significant investment has taken place in the Upper East Region]. I wish to use this opportunity to appeal to government to address the structural causes of poverty in this area as a peace building initiative. Climate change and environmental scarcity have worsen the poverty situation in the area. Kandiga and Doba now need food, shelter, water, health facilities and good roads to enjoy their peace.”
RECONCILATION
Representatives of the two communities in separate speeches expressed their regret at the unfortunate conflict that ravaged the two communities living many homeless and taking lives and properties and urged the two communities to forgive each other for whatever pain the conflict has caused them and embrace each other as brothers and sisters.
Mr. Clement Anontara, the spokesperson of Doba Naba, Naba Agebeeresina Abaane Atingua II in his speech asked god to forgive the two communities for their involvement in the unfortunate conflict. He said the conflict can be compared to children who played with stones but which eventually developed into a bigger fight.
” God forgive the sins of the people of Doba, and forgive the sins of the people of Kandiga. We are sorry, because the conflict between Doba and Kandiga was not something that anyone sat down to orchestrate for any gain. It is a stone that we played with that has eventually hurt us. It started like a joke which has brought us here. The Doba Chief appeals to all of us to let bygones be bygones because there is no problem that has a start without an end. it started with pain but because God calls and the earth answers, it has ended well. That is why today, we are ending it.”
He prayed that the lord who gives breath will breath new life and peace into the two communities and help everyone who has been affected by the conflict. He also warned the youth and those who intend to reactivate the conflict to desist from it because the gods of the land will be watching and will not spare them.
” With Bishop leading this ceremony, the good lord will breath his air of freshness across the communities from the South, West, East and North and bring help to everyone in need of help. I know many are still in pain. Our hearts are heavy, even we the leaders standing here have not taken water for three days now because when you are hit by an incident that you have know knowledge about, it brings tears.”
” We have gathered here not for play. So i want to warn the youth that if there is any of you that think that we here are joking, i want you to know that whatever we are doing and saying here is from our hearts. If there is any of you here or somewhere and says when we were fighting you derived some benefit out of it and so you will not allow this peace to prevail and that you will go back and restoke the conflict, may the gods deal with you and expose you for everyone to see you.”
Mr. Gilbert Atawiiri Atanga, the spokes person of Kandiga Naba, Nana Henry Abawine Amenga-Etego II, on his part said the blood cleansing ceremony was an indication that the common enemy has been defeated and urged all to bury their differences and hoot the enemy away.
“As we have come together and gathered here, let us happily embrace each other and and live as one people with love that will bring us development in the very near future because today we have defeated the enemy. As we have defeated the enemy, lets come together and hoot satan to go far from us.”
Mr.Atanga said the people of the two communities have inter married and wondered why people of one ancestor will turn around to fight each other. He appealed to the people to let the cleansing ceremony mark the end of the conflict and reunite with each other and build a strong bond even stronger than before.
“People of Kandiga and Doba have inter married and there are even children from Doba who are living in my house under my care so why should we be fighting? Kandiga Naba’s short message is that we should go back and reunite with each other and form a bond that is even stronger than before.”
He warned trouble makers and those fueling the conflict to desist from it.” If there is anyone who has the intention to refuel this conflict by influencing either the people of Kandiga or Doba not to agree to this new peace, we will add him to satan and hoot him away.”
The chiefs of the two communities and their elders were served with water by women from opposite communities which they drunk as a sign of reconciliation. The Sirigu Women Organisation of Poetry and Art ( SWOPA) also served the two communities with TZ and Betto soup which the spokes persons of the chiefs of the two communities ate together to officially end the prolonged conflict.
Earlier on Friday 24th February,2023, a sacred blood cleansing ceremony was held by Tindaanas and elders of the two communities where traditional rituals and sacrifices were performed to purify the land of any blood that was shared during the period of the conflict.
Amidst great gospel songs from the Kandiga Catholic Choir, the community members sang and danced their hearts out to embrace the newly found peace in the community.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com