Assessing the effectiveness of conflict resolution mechanisms used by National Peace Council in resolving the Alavanyo/Nkonya and Hohoe Conflicts in Ghana

Abstract

In Ghana, a number of conflicts have assumed protracted nature. Most of these conflicts have been handled by state and civil society organizations with various conflict resolution mechanisms. However, these conflicts have been reoccurring over time which leaves one to question the effectiveness of the resolution mechanisms employed to resolve the conflicts. This study therefore sought to assess the effectiveness of conflict resolution mechanisms used by National Peace Council in resolving the Alavanyo/Nkonya and the Hohoe conflicts.The study used 15 respondents who were purposively selected for the study. Usingthe exploratory design, the study revealed that the National Peace Council mostly used mediation in the conflicts. Mediation was chosen because the conflicting parties had reached a stalemate over the issues.Mediationalso enables the conflicting parties toown the decision making process.Lastly, the mediation mechanism has not been effective because the mediators failed to identify the needs of the parties who were not represented in the mediation. The mediation committee failed to consider the structure of the society. The study recommended that the mediation committee (NPC) should consider the structure of the society when using mediation to enable them to know the individuals involved in the conflict so that they can contribute to the selection of the representatives to represent their interest on the committee.