The Central Region town of Swedru was in the news a few weeks ago for the negative reasons and we think the brakes must be pulled over it before it infects other parts of the country with similar features.
Lives were lost and properties destroyed in what was certainly an avoidable upheaval in a town where the motley ethnic groups had lived in harmony for many years with no bones broken.
The misunderstanding and subsequent clash was between the indigenous people of the town and their Zongo counterparts, with whom they had lived for many years, harmoniously.
The cordial relationship was disturbed to its roots during the period under review. The lull in hostilities is eerie and we are apprehensive that if a lasting remedy is not found, it can lead to more trouble in future.
We are told that this is not the first time that such a confusion has occurred in the township and we do not think what happened would be the last.
So far, details about what led to the nasty development suggest something innocuous and flimsy which degenerated into altercations and subsequently a communal disturbance.
The marshalling of forces and eventually launching attacks on each other is, to state the least, most appalling, especially since it sets a dangerous precedence.
We are already beset with a number of worrying security challenges in some parts of the country, over which thousands of cedis are being expended to manage not to mention the loss of lives and damaging of properties.
Encouraging or being indifferent as fresh challenges unfold would be irresponsible on the part of all those who can play a part to stem the bloody anomaly.
We have learnt, albeit, unconfirmed, that security agents dispatched to the scene of upheaval were rather uneven and unprofessional in their management of the situation.
They allegedly assaulted the indigenous people and defiled their sacred locations all in the name of restoring normalcy.
If indeed the foregone allegations did take place, we condemn them in their entirety and counsel that security agents must be very careful in their handling of such volatile situations as they have the tendency of making the quest for remedies rather difficult if not impossible.
We take solace in the swift movement of the Regional Security Committee to control the fast degenerating situation.
The empanelling of a committee, the standard action under such circumstances, to probe and recommend ways to obviate future recurrences is in order and we pray that the body performs to satisfaction.
We implore the chief and the people in the area to allow peace to prevail by letting bygones be bygones.
The barring of Zongo indigenes from burying their dead in the town and even shunning them, by refusing to engage in commercial exchanges with them, for us is outrageous and should not be an option.
We have learnt painfully about this as a possible punitive option being considered by the traditional authorities in the town.
Since this would be in our overall interest, we can only advise that we stay off it and consider those productive options.
Let us all learn to live and let�s live and to remember the interesting old adage that a town without a Zongo is not worth living.
This suggests that Zongos are integral parts of our settlements across the country from time immemorial, a status quo we should continue to maintain as our forebears did.
Should misunderstandings ensue, we can only brood over remedies and apply them accordingly.
The tendency for such unruly conduct to spread to other parts of the country cannot be ruled out and so we caution that we should tread cautiously when beset with disagreements of such magnitude.
Failure to manage such worrying situations can only lead to avoidable upheavals in which there are no victors or vanquished.
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