THE KONKOMBA AND THE INTER-ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN GHANA (C 1900-1981)

Abstract

This study is concerned with the Konkomba and the inter-ethnic conflicts in northern Ghana. It begins from about 1900 to 1981. This period coincides with the commencement of British colonial rule in the area and the aftermath of it. Actually, Brutish occupation of the North took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the outset, the British embarked on a policy of direct rule. This policy held sway from the inception of British rule in northern Ghana until the early 1930s when it was changed to what became known as indirect rule. British imperial presence resulted in a slower pace of economic and social development of northern Ghana. The colonial policies pursued were not only effective in keeping the North outside the main currents of Gold Coast politics, but the incorporation and subordinating of subject groups of people, such as the Konkomba, to the traditional states of Mamprugu, Dagbon, Nanun and Gonja were further strengthened. These developments engendered inter-ethnic conflicts. In this study, it is considered that in the aftermath of the independence of Ghana, the Konkomba were counted among the subject groups of people in the Northern Region of Ghana who did not own land, who paid tribute (particularly in Nanun), and their traditional system of chieftaincy remained unrecognized at the local, regional and national levels. Events and developments such as was produced and promoted by Konkomba past disturbances among themselves, westernization, and the formation of a Konkomba Youth Association created and elements of conflict long before the real drama began. By the 1980s, inter-ethnic violence and armed confrontations erupted in northern Ghana in which the Konkomba featured prominently. In 1981, they took on the Nanumba. The course of that armed clash has been outlined. Information for this study was gathered from oral traditions, verbal interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, archival material and secondary sources.