RESOLVING INTRA-ETHNIC CONFLICTS

THE rising incidence of inter and intra-ethnic conflicts in the country, particularly in the three northern regions, has become very worrisome.
Of late, reports of conflicts in the media have become part and parcel of the exchanges in many communities.
The flashpoints are increasing by arithmetic progression, sometimes sending the wrong signals to the international community that the north is on the verge of breaking apart.
The conflict in Bawku has been festering since December last year; what is in Dagbon remains protracted, while Buipe is the latest in line.
At the core of these conflicts are litigation over land and chieftaincy, but at the extreme is a simmering political conflict.
The number of conflict areas is not immediately available but from east to west and north to south our people have disregarded the use of dialogue to resolve their differences and rather resorted to violence and brute force reminiscent of the state of nature.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that one of the best ways to resolve differences in any society is the availability of a functional dispute resolution mechanism to make it unattractive for people to adopt self-help to seek redress.
We, therefore, welcome the suggestion by the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, that one way of reducing the prevalence of inter and intra-ethnic conflicts in the Northern Region is the establishment of more courts in the region.
We think that for litigants to use the services available at the courts, it is imperative for the justice system to be accessible and user-friendly. Many of our people in the rural areas who are in need of legal services do not know where to go. They are also afraid of the court environment because it looks unfriendly and alien.
That is why there is sense in the panel system in which ordinary people feel at home because judgement is passed on them by their peers, not by people communicating in jargons.
It is unfortunate that some people still think that the business and political elite are untouchable in our society, although the principle behind the rule of law is that no one is above the law.
Perhaps the most important objective of the rule of law is the principle that governmental authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written and publicly disclosed laws.
The principle is intended to be a safeguard against arbitrary governance, whether by a totalitarian leader or by mob rule.
Thus a country can be said to be practising the rule of law if there are clear separation of powers, legal certainty, the principle of legitimate expectation and equality before the law.
Under rule of law principles, the law must afford adequate protection of the fundamental human rights, as well as provide the means for resolving, without prohibitive costs or inordinate delay, bona fide civil disputes which the parties themselves are unable to resolve.
Justice delayed is justice denied is a popular dictum in judicial corridors and yet long adjournments have hampered the efforts of those seeking redress at the courts.
The DAILY GRAPHIC abhors mob justice. We, therefore, call on the authorities to establish more courts so that the frontiers of the justice system will be expanded to all corners of the country. This way, the authorities will not be accused of paying lip service to the rule of law.
The police, the judiciary and the Attorney-General's Department should team up to bring justice to the doorstep of litigants so that the recourse to self-help or mob justice will be a disincentive.