Trust on Shaky Ground

November 7th

Today I had the opportunity to visit the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding meeting with Mr. Emmanuel Bombane, its director. It is a network (like AFJN) that promotes peacebuilding throughout West Africa. It has its roots in the work of John Paul Lederach, formerly at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg VA, but now at the Kroc Institute of Peace in Notre Dame, Indiana. The organization also finds support and direction from the CRS Peace Building Initiatives.

I shared the status of AFJN and our interest in studying restorative justice as well as our position on AFRICOM. Emmanuel had just come from Washington, DC where he gave a presentation that critiqued AFRICOM to a high level, select group that was promoting AFRICOM. He was the only African present and after his paper he was offered a special moment to chat with General Ward, the head of AFRICOM. He was able to engage General Ward in his critique of this venture, but he was alone in that instance. He is very glad that we at AFJN are so situated in opposition to this Command as it is formulated.

Emmanuel then shared with me some of the challenges as well as the roots of the conflicts that effect Ghana today. The overall challenge seems to be a lack of resolution; in many cases, after rounds of sharing stories or discussing the problems, the final steps are not taken. Many processes remain to be completed and the conflicts still fester. The positive place of the Church and its attempt to move the issues is admirable, but the job still has to be completed. An example of this is that the resolutions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Ghana got politicized and sidelined once they got to Parliament several years ago. The recommendations became stymied. The overall question is, will the actors in this drama be able to reexamine the many conflict histories and put together a new history in order to shape a peace which all can share? It seems many are stuck in their own interpretations of the history they know.

This problem played out in my afternoon meeting with the “push boys” of the Medina Marketplace in Accra. School age boys and girls from the conflict in the North of Ghana, the town of Yendi in this case, are in Accra and make a living by assisting buyers and sellers, pushing carts or carrying pans on their heads laden with wares to and fro in the teeming market. I met with 13 of them and heard their story of the conflict in Yendi where a serious clash erupted due to a dispute over an annual festival. A paramount chief and 50 others were killed in the fray and it is no longer safe for one from that “royal family” to remain in Yendi.

The incident happened 6 years ago and feelings are still raw. Restoration is a long way off, but it was interesting to listen to spontaneous recommendations from some of these boys. They both surprised me and confirmed my sense that they would find an appropriate way to bring everyone together if only given the space and support to do so. Three of the young men shared the story in a commanding and animated way. At the end of the time with them, I asked another young man who intently listened to the three but remained very silent, what was his story? He respectfully declined, saying softly only to me that what I heard may be their story, but it was not the whole story, not his for sure. They would not accept his take on it if he shared it now. Feelings are still raw and trust is still absent. However, each group, in their own way, shared their histories with me in work or silence. I was grateful for their trust.

Between these two meetings I joined the staff of SECAM for Mass at noon and lunch. Again in the informality of a wonderful lunch with wine and ice cream (it is great to be a guest) we shared the common concern for peace and justice in Africa, noting the current situation in DRC as well as the upcoming elections in many countries, including Ghana.