The Youth And Rituals In Post-Conflict Rebuilding: The Psychosocial Dimension Of Post-Conflict Rebuilding In The Kpandai District In Contemporary Times

Abstract

Northern Ghana has gone through decades of inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic conflicts since the 1980s. The present-day Kpandai District was ravaged by an inter-ethnic conflict in 1991/1992, between the Nawuri/Nchumuru and the Gonja, over allodial rights. In both the physical confrontations and rebuilding processes, the youth and rituals played critical roles. However, there is hardly any systematic analysis of the role of the youth and rituals in the post-conflict rebuilding scheme in the Kpandai District. This paper analyzes the roles played by traditional rituals and the Nawuri youth (Nawuri Professionals’ Association, NPA) in post-conflict rebuilding schemes in Kpandai. Using the traditional historical method of reconstructing a narrative from primary and secondary sources, this paper examines the psychosocial dimension and underlines the place of local resources in post-conflict rebuilding in the Kpandai District in the Northern Region of Ghana. It uses the Nawuri Professionals’ Association (NPA) – a youth group of the Nawuri – as a case study. The paper argues that the youth and the use of rituals as psychosocial factors serve as effective variables for post-conflict rebuilding of Nawuri society in the Kpandai District.