Not Mere Spectators, Not On The Margins Of Conflict: Gender, Conflict And Peacebuilding In The Nawuri-Gonja Conflict, Northern Ghana

Abstract

Narratives on conflicts in Northern Ghana generally made the architecture of conflicts and peacebuilding programmes the monopoly of the male gender. This lope-sided narrative paints a picture of women as mere spectators and unfortunate victims of destructive conflicts. The narratives fail to appreciate the significant roles women serve as players and active stakeholders in conflicts and peacebuilding. This study examines the functions Nawuri women played in the theatre of war of the Nawuri-Gonja conflict and in the social space in the peacebuilding processes in Kpandai and its environs after the conflict. Using a historical approach in blending information from documents and oral narratives, this paper argues that Nawuri women were not mere spectators of the Nawuri-Gonja conflict; neither did they sit on the margins of the theatre of war and peacebuilding. They played crucial roles in the conflict, both as active participants in the conduct of war, and as stakeholders in peacebuilding after the end of hostilities.