Author: Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu

Northern Ghana has long been characterised by intra- and inter-ethnic conflicts of various types, varying in terms of causes, duration, geographic scope and impact. These range from conflicts over land, chieftaincy, access to the use of, control and benefits from,resources, marginalisation and political party vigilantism. Adding to this mix of internal conflicts are the threats of violent extremism from the Sahel, including susceptibility to radicalisation with potentially devastating implications.
Analyses of the causes of the internal conflicts and the north’s susceptibility to attacks from violent extremists and radicalisation of its youth have informed peace and security programming in the area. Thus programming/responses by both state and non-state actors have focused on human security strategies such as; livelihoods support and strengthening, improved access to services and improved community cohesion on one side; and traditional security strategies such as restructuring, retooling and equipping the state’s security apparatus, and strengthening both internal and cross border intelligence gathering and analysis on the other hand. Civil society and non-state actors’ efforts have largely followed the former whiles the latter is largely the domain of the state with some support from bilateral partners. STAR-Ghana Foundation’s peace and security programming in northern Ghana has largely followed the above script. Its initiatives, funded by diverse partners including the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The initiatives include:

- Supporting community-driven approaches to addressing the drivers of conflicts and insecurity

- Establishing and strengthening local structures and platforms for promoting dialogue among citizens and between citizens and security/state agencies

- Promoting coordination and collaboration mechanisms between CSOs and between CSOs and state agencies

- Leading research to evolve knowledge and evidence on key peace and security themes.

- Supporting livelihoods and sensitization to build resilience of vulnerable
communities and populations against radicalization.

- Supporting mainstreaming of peace and security strategies and priorities into national development plans and priorities.         

                                     "At the heart of all the internal conflicts and susceptibility to external threats of infiltration and radicalisation is the issue of governance, traditional or community governance and national governance."

Good governance has been identified as critical to sustainably and effectively addressing the issues of peace and insecurity in northern Ghana. Experiences from leading STAR-Ghana’s programming in this sector leads me to believe that bad governance is cause and all the others are effects. That at the heart of all the internal conflicts and susceptibility to external threats of infiltration and radicalisation is the issue of governance, traditional or community governance and national governance. At the traditional level, bad governance excludes sections of the population, particularly young people, women, settler and other minority groups from participation in governance, from access to and control of resources or benefiting equitably from the use and exploitation of these resources. It leads to lack of accountability and responsiveness on the part of rulers and in the appointment of community leaders. At the state or national level, bad governance leads to corruption which affects development; it leads to exclusion and alienation; and it results in frustrations borne out of citizens’ inability to gain redress for grievances. This affects citizens’ trust in the state and its institutions, thereby giving room for exploitation by various actors to engage in/or justify the use violence. So it is time to put good governance at the heart of all actions to counter violent extremism, fight radicalisation and promote peace and security in northern Ghana. It should go beyond promoting good governance as one of the programming areas, to mainstreaming governance in all interventions including preventing and countering violent extremism programming. This will not be as easy as it sounds. Peace and  Security initiatives usually call for close collaboration and the cooperation of traditional leaders and district and national officials. Antagonising them or threatening their interests may lead to withdrawal of cooperation. Citizens or community members may also be reluctant to cooperate or work with initiatives that threaten the status quo for fear of reprisals. To mitigate the above risks, a number of steps are recommended, including:

- Local civic organizations enjoy local legitimacy and better understand the local system and status quo to be able to work through it and lead change from within. Therefore, strengthening capacities of local civic organisations to lead the
processes for promoting inclusive, accountable and responsive governance at the traditional levels is critical. This will include strengthening their capacities to work politically without being political and embedding basic political economy approaches in their work.

- Exploring strategies for supporting and protecting local human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists and organisations and mainstreaming human rights and cultural sensitivity approach into security operations.

- Strengthening mechanisms for linking local governance strengthening initiatives with national reform processes for sustainability and for traction.

- Moving beyond fragmented peace and security interventions to more long-term and flexible funding to support adaptive and agile community and local initiatives. A pooled donor funding will enable the development and implementation of
complementary actions that enhance synergy and mobilise critical masses of actors and initiatives around key actions.

December 2023