The Japekrom-Drobo Conflict And The Costs To Indigenes

On Thursday, January 31, 2019, Ghana’s Minister for the Interior was compelled to review its curfew on Drobo, Japekrom, Babianiha, Kwasibourkrom, Mpuasu, Basekrom, Kojokesekrom and Katakyiekrom in the Jaman South Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am following fresh violent attacks in the area.

These violent clashes aren’t particularly new, as they have been reported in the media as far back 2000. The latest incident started in October 2018, when a vile clash ensured between the peoples of Drobo and Japekrom, leading to the death of two persons, with 14 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.

Though the death toll in that incident still remains a matter of dispute, the dehumanizing effect of this conflict continues to be felt by indigenes and residents of the area, both young and old. The curfew hours in the area had been reviewed since September 12, 2019 with enforcement hours currently pegged between 8pm and 5am each day.

According to recent history, Japekrom and Drobo had been clashing since the early 2000s, due to a land dispute, which had been adjudicated from the High Court, through the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, despite all these legal actions, it would appear the matter is yet to die down. Persons knowledgeable on the facts of the case are of the opinion that while the court ruling was in favour of Japekrom, the people of Drobo and their legal team appear to have a varying interpretation, hence the protracted face-offs.

The protracted nature of the conflict has resulted in series of reprisal attacks by either party in a bid to even scores. In one of such attacks on April 3, 2018 as reported by graphic.com, about 10 unidentified armed men, entered Drobo to destroy a fence, amidst indiscriminate shooting, prompting some youth of Drobo to fight back in self defence.

A gun attack by some unknown assailants on a crowd of Japekrom inhabitants at Drobo sparked the recent violence that prompted the curfew. It emerged that the Japekrom inhabitants had passed through Drobo in a procession as part of activities to mark their annual Munufie Festival Celebrations, when the incident happened.

Reports suggest that stray bullets hit the fallen, with the police identifying one of them as the Mmrantehene (Youth chief) of Japekrom, Wofa Sena Atta, 42. Once again, the underlying tension is traced to the long-standing feud over the ownership of some stool lands close to the two communities.

Drobo and Japekrom are separated by only a river, yet their long-standing land dispute, although ruled on by the Supreme Court, has not abated the insecurity in the area.

The attacks and deaths compelled the Interior Minister; Mr. Ambrose Dery, to declare a curfew from 6:00pm to 6:00am each day. The development curtailed economic activity and hampered social life in the area. While public and private schools remained unopen, the movement of persons and vehicles had been badly affected. So far about 60 policemen and 30 military men have been permanently deployed to keep the peace.

Surrounding communities such as Babianiha, Kwasibourkrom, Mpausu, Basekrom, Kojokesekrom and Katakyiekrom are also badly affected by the curfew.

The sad story is that, these did not start today. According to an October 22, 2018 publication by the Chronicle Newspaper, as far back as July 2000, two persons reportedly sustained gunshot wounds following a similar fierce gun battle between the two peoples.

The publication noted that the victims had to be rushed to the Drobo St. Mary’s Hospital in critical condition, while a number of buildings in the two towns were burnt down.

On one occasion, about 40 people were rounded up by the police because of a violent incident during a Communal Labour exercise.

On that day the people of Japekrom allegedly ‘strayed’ into Drobo territory to destroy some farms. As would be expected, the people of Drobo did not take kindly to the provocation and struck back with full force.

In the process, a large number of armed youth from Drobo massed up and marched to the palace at the Japekrom chief, firing gunshots while the people from Japekrom also massed up and returned the fire. Reports say the local police could not contain the situation, and were forced to call for reinforcement of personnel from Berekum.

Consequently, the Regional Security Council deployed two platoons of soldiers and police personnel to the feuding neighbouring towns.

It had become evident at that point that people in these communities own and wield arms, ammunition and other offensive weapons, hence the wanton shooting of perceived enemies.

Some citizens in the area, whom the writer interacted with, indicated that they live constantly in fear of targeted assassinations, especially those linked to the royal houses.

Following recent reports of cases of contract killings in the country, and which is fast becoming the norm in Ghana, there appears to be some justification for these fears.

Such fears have informed the decisions of many youth from Drobo, Japekrom, Babianiha, Kwasibourkrom, Mpuasu, Basekrom, Kojokesekrom, Katakyiekrom and its environs to migrate to Accra, Ghana’s capital city.

To some, even Accra does not bode well for them and thus take the perilous journey to Libya in a bid to reach Europe or the US to seek political asylum there. For the same reason, others trek to Libya using the desert route or the Mediterranean Sea with the hope of reaching Italy or Spain eventually. The related horrific tales, including enslavement, torture and deaths, are known to many.

It is not surprising to hear that many citizens of the two towns are seeking refuge in nearby Ivory Coast. A member of the Kosopre (Adinkrah) Family intimated that most of the family members were seeking refuge in other countries, out of fear.

This is why it is imperative for the humanitarian agencies and the government to work out an effective and lasting resolution to this matter to avert further deterioration of the situation.

Such perilous migration certainly contributes to the loss of energetic youth of these areas, some of whom may have lost their lives, either through the violence or in the process of fleeing.

 

Columnist: Frank Bosea.