Nkwanta: Land dispute reignites as Challah youth leader appeals for gov’t intervention

A renewed land conflict in the Nkwanta District is threatening the longstanding peace among the area’s three main ethnic groups—the Challahs, Adeles, and Akyodes.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on July 15, Edward Awiagah, a leader of the Challah Youths Association, detailed how the dispute, which had previously been confined to legal proceedings, has now escalated into open tension following the alleged defiance of a peace directive by the Akyode community.

According to Mr. Awiagah, the tribes had coexisted peacefully for generations, intermarrying and sharing public spaces like schools and markets. “It has been long-standing, very long ago… we have long been staying in peace,” he said.

He explained that while there had once been conflict between the Challahs and the Adeles over ownership of Nkwanta lands, the matter had moved to court, where the Akyodes themselves testified in favor of the Challahs. It therefore came as a shock, he said, when the Akyodes later began asserting their own claims to the same land.

The most recent escalation occurred on June 25, 2025. Mr. Awiagah alleged that members of the Akyode tribe violated an order from the Oti Regional Coordinating Council, which had banned all three tribes from conducting traditional rites within Nkwanta township—ceremonies often seen as symbolic acts of land ownership.

“We are the original owners, the Challah people… the Akyode people testified in court for the Challah, and now they have come back to claim it,” he said.

While the Challahs performed their rites peacefully in their traditional village, he accused the Akyodes of performing theirs in Nkwanta town and then intimidating buyers and sellers in the local market, which he said ignited the current wave of unrest.

Mr. Awiagah warned that the conflict has severely disrupted life in the area. Farming, which is the primary livelihood for most residents, has ground to a halt out of fear of violence.

“You can’t go to the farm because people will lay ambush and kill you,” he said. “Hopelessness has brought back deepened poverty… no economic activities are going on.”

He called on the government to establish a permanent military base in Nkwanta and to uphold the ban on traditional festivals within the town.

He stressed that the continued performance of such rites in contested spaces poses a serious threat to peace and security. “It’s not just about the festival—it’s about peace,” he emphasized.