Exclusionism is the Mother of all Violence

Most of the conflicts in Northern Ghana do not seem to make any sense to the casual observer. Shortly after the northern conflict of 1994, the so-called guinea-fowl war, someone commented. "As for these northerners... let us send them an articulator truck load of guinea-fowls and the conflict will be over". On the Dagbon conflict another comment..."what is the big deal about a dead man, the man is dead and will never come back to life bury him and get on with life". Other comments like "why can you people just live in peace"? I guess if things were this easy, such comments would not be necessary in the first place. What is often missed out is that there is a dynamic, a pattern in conflict which when it grips a group of people plays itself out. The sad part of the story is that the people involved are often not aware. First a conflict does not just happen over night. It takes a long time during which people are prepared to see the need to carry out the violence. It is often presented in such a way that one has the choice between the violence and total annihilation. This is the myth and the lie of violence. It is such a powerful myth that once you buy into it, it gives you meaning and like a drug hooks you on. It becomes self perpetuating and self destructive and like any other addition difficult to get out of it. According to Dr. Bartoli, "Violence breaks the order that is existing. That which is normally not permissible becomes permissible, and that which is exceptional becomes the rule. Violence is very exhaustive and to continue over time and space violence must be fed and regenerated, used and prepared. Violence can only be sustained in an enmity system where everything is defined by the prevalent and overbearing presence of enmity and enemies. Violence therefore creates a kind of new order, an enmity system to respond to the human need for certitude in front of the unknown". There is a logic in violence which thrives on a system of exclusion. Any form of exclusion however benign creates the conditions overtime for violence. To understand our conflict we must look at our systems of exclusion.