When I came to Tamale in late 2010, I happen to have found everything in Tamale satisfactory except the chieftaincy battles and political tension that sometimes plague the land. Having the platform of the radio station I worked with then, I wrote a commentary on the appalling state of this matter of grave concern, and many people were angry after listening to me. Some wanted to even lay their hands on me and teach me to mind my own business. Some asked me
“a ya bↄgnↄ” transliterating “Are you from this town?”
I was lucky they knew the voice and not the person, I guess. Then it went down for a while and resurfaced during the election era in the form of tension and threats. Little did I know that it could take the shape of people associating misunderstandings and unfortunate incidents like people being shot to particular political groups and raising a hell of a fight in the process. It started like a rumour yesterday that a man was shot dead after he opened his door to see who was knocking on Sunday. Then by yesterday evening, there was chaos because some people claim some men were purported to have been physically abused, this led them into thinking it was a faction of a political party members who were behind the shootings and the said abuse. So they went to their homes and brought out their sophisticated arms rumored to have been given to them by political leaders, ready to battle. They caught a scapegoat whose only crime was walking in the enemy’s territory and brutally assaulted him with hands, nails and other weapons prolonging the guy’s painful transition into a corpse while people looked on because of the warning shots being fired around.
There is also a chieftaincy chaos in Bimbilla because a man whom a faction preferred as chief died. They wanted to bury him like a chief and the current chief’s supporters said no. So they engage in chieftaincy dispute that gets out of hands and had to be placed on curfew.
What are the advantages of aggression, revenge, chaos? Why will political figures give arms to supporters instead of education or something that will impact on their lives positively if the rumour is true?
We must be our brothers’ keeper not our brothers’ foe. Let’s aim for development for our nation not political or chieftaincy wars. Love your neighbour as you will love yourself.
Mum Cee 