BY Issah Olegor
A week-long intertribal conflict between the Gonjas and the Birifors in the Savannah Region has spiraled into one of the deadliest communal clashes in recent years, displacing tens of thousands and leaving scores dead.
According to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the local Red Cross, 48,000 people have been displaced while 31 deaths have been officially recorded.
However, local accounts suggest that the figure is significantly higher, with more than 200 fatalities believed to have occurred, as many victims remain unaccounted for in nearby bushes.
Eyewitnesses also report that some residents drowned while attempting to flee across rivers into neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire.
The violence, which began on August 25, 2025, has engulfed at least 12 communities around Bole area, forcing residents to seek shelter in makeshift tents.
Some have crossed the border into Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso to seek asylum.
Relief agencies say the humanitarian situation is worsening, with overcrowded shelters, food shortages, and inadequate medical care compounding the suffering of displaced families.
The Savannah Regional Coordinating Council dispatched a delegation to the affected communities on Monday.
The team, however, encountered armed groups described as “local warriors” on their way. It took careful negotiation and diplomacy to avert further escalation during that visit. Regional authorities are appealing for calm and urging both factions to commit to dialogue.
This is not the first time the Gonja-Birifor conflict has turned deadly. Historical tensions between the two ethnic groups, often fueled by land and chieftaincy disputes, have flared periodically.
Analysts warn that the latest outbreak underscores the state’s inability to resolve longstanding grievances in northern Ghana, where competition over land and resources frequently triggers clashes.
Despite the scale of devastation, concerns are growing that the crisis is being underreported in mainstream media.
A resident of the area, Maxwell Suuku, described the silence as troubling, stressing that “the world does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of this situation.”
Adding to the controversy, civil society actor, Steve Manteaw publicly downplayed the scale of the killings, describing them as mere “pockets of conflict.”
His remarks have been widely criticized as insensitive at a time when thousands of families are reeling from the humanitarian crisis.
Observers say the government must move quickly to broker a ceasefire and support displaced families before the situation deteriorates further.
For now, the people of Sawla and the surrounding communities remain trapped between grief, displacement, and uncertainty.
