Ama Gien ran and left her child on the night they heard people coming into their community.
What began as a communal clash over a piece of land in Gbiniyiri in Ghana’s Savannah Region, has metamorphosed into a full-blown humanitarian crisis with over 48,000 Ghanaians displaced.
“When we heard the people were coming, we ran into the bush. I ran and left my son; I only met him in this camp. We slept in the bush for three days before arriving here,” Gien said.
But she’s not alone. Officials from the Red Cross, who are helping the National Disaster Management Organization to contain the situation, put the number of displaced people at 48,051. Women and children are mostly affected.
“At the last count, we had 31 people who we could confirm having died,” the country’s Savannah Regional Minister, Salisu Bi-Awuribe told local media.
Authorities report that at least 13,000 victims have also crossed into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire to seek refuge.
However, not all affected individual have been accounted for. Bavini Beriba, one of the displaced people, has not found his father and some of his relatives since the clashes began.
“I managed to escape. But my brothers remain there, and I don’t know what to do,” he said.
Ghana’s president, John Mahama has ordered heightened security response including dispatching the country’s interior minister and other senior security officials to quell the violent clashes.
The incident, which started on Sunday, August 24, was reportedly triggered by a disagreement over a parcel of land.
The development comes amid a decline in Ghana’s ranking on the Global Peace Index (GPI) from 55th in 2024 to 61st in 2025, out of 163 countries.
