When will this come to an end?

”A convoy of vehicles being escorted by the military has been attacked by some gunmen along the Bolgatanga-Bawku road and three people are reported dead.” This was what l heard from the news and the question that immediately came to mind was, when will this come to an end?

 It appears it is getting worse and life for innocent travellers are at risk, on a daily basis.  Previous incidents, were not this daring.  The attacks were previously on vehicles that travelled without escort. 

Now if vehicles, in a convoy, escorted by military personnel, are being attacked, then the situation has really gotten out of hand.  The effect of this resurgence of violence in the Bawku enclave, after the effort that has been put in to achieve some peace, is deeply disappointing.  

The repercussion on the communities surrounding Bawku, in terms of fear in going about normal activities, the travelling public that ply the route along the Bolga to Paga road, mostly for those travelling to Burkina to bring foodstuff, such attacks is a huge hindrance.  Nobody wants to travel to engage in commercial activities, only to get killed. 

Economic activities will suffer in the area along the route from Bolgatanga to Bawku since the customers who purchase items from the Bawku area and beyond, are mostly from places further south, from Tamale all the way down to Kumasi and even further south to Accra. 

What it means is that commercial activities will be negatively impacted.

On the social front, insecurity will result in measures like curfews which will severely limit normal interactions among friends and society as a whole because movement and activities beyond a certain time in the day cannot happen.  Schools may be closed down, church activities will be impacted and life in general will become one very uninteresting venture.  

A lot of lives become disorganised because for the achievement of personal goals, planning is key and you need a stable environment for efficient planning.  School children going to write major exams like BECE or WASSCE may have to be transported and camped somewhere outside their town, disrupting their preparations towards the exams. 

This can seriously affect their success in the exams.  Then comes the effect such impromptu relocations will have on the teachers and invigilators, which can negatively impact on the performance of the students. 

Development in a peaceful environment.  There cannot be substantial development in an area where chaos reigns. 

The government can construct the basic infrastructure like roads and a few buildings for government agencies but the rest are usually constructed by private investors construct, malls, high rise offices, residential estates etc. 

Residential estates are rented to middle class people and how can they invest in a town or an area where people are running away from due to insecurity?  

The cost of providing security for the populace in conflict areas such as Bawku, is a huge drain on the economy, especially economy like ours which cannot afford the luxury of unproductive expenditure. 

If we are to compute the amount spent on conflicts in the country in relation to opportunity cost of hospitals, roads and other necessary infrastructure, the urgent need to prevent such conflicts will not be lost on anybody.

 Let us therefore strive to avert these conflicts so that resources can be channelled into critical areas of our national developmental agenda. 

The chiefs, clergy and relevant institutions and stakeholders, should assist in making this possible. God bless.

By Laud-Kissi Mensah