Behind the Intractability of Communal Conflicts in Africa: The Case of the Nkonya–Alavanyo Conflict in Ghana

In this article, I move away from the rather active and bloodier conflicts to which there exists significant academic literature to the rarely researched, less bloody and latent communal violence. Based on archival documents and in-depth semistructured interviews conducted in Ghana with analysis of transcript following a thematic approach, I examine from the perspective of the Nkonyas, the intractability of the Nkonya–Alavanyo conflict in Ghana, which, despite many attempts at resolution, persists for almost a that, in the view of the Nkonyas, the conflict remains insoluble due to (1) the nonexecution of the various courts’ judgments in their favour, (2) the lack of punitive measures the Alavanyos and (5) the political undertones that underpin the conflict.