Ghana's northern regions face new threats before crucial December election

As Dec 7th approaches Ghanaʼs getting ready for a big change - Nana Akufo-Addo will step down after his two-term limit and twelve candidates want his job (including Mahamudu Bawumia and John Mahama)

The north part of Ghanaʼs got some real problems: Bawku town (just an hour from Burkina Faso) is seeing fights between Kusasi and Mamprusi people about whoʼs in charge. Since early-2021 its been pretty rough with at-least 25 people dying last month which made officials put a night-time rule in place

Ghana shares a long border with Burkina Faso - a place thats having big trouble with groups like JNIM and other bad guys. More than 15k people ran away to Ghana but the government doesnt want Fulani people coming in because they think theyre helping terrorists; which isnt true

• US gave $100m to help Ghana and other countries near it
• EU sent some military help too
• Local cops only show up on market days
• Armed gangs got stronger in the area

The real issues arent about terror though - its about no jobs poor people and not enough food. The weatherʼs getting worse up north making it hard for farmers; plus theres lots of fighting about who owns what land. Some folks are doing illegal stuff like moving gold and weapons just to make money

Last spring US leader Kamala Harris came to help but the military-only fix isnt working. Whoever wins the election will need to think about fixing the real problems - not just sending more soldiers to the border

In this whole mess Ghanaʼs still got one of Africaʼs best democracy records but its going to need more than guns to fix whats happening up north. The new president will have to deal with all these problems while keeping the countryʼs good reputation for peaceful changes in power