Contested boundaries : decentralisation and land conflicts in northwestern Ghana

Abstract

IntroductionAdministrative decentralisation and the devolution of political power to local communities have been key concepts in the recent democratisation projects in Africa. With the slogan “bring the government to the people” the Rawlings’ government in Ghana announced, at the end of the 1980s, the creation of new districts. Throughout the country, this announcement set in motion intense lobby politics and political mobilisation at the local level. Population and economic viability were th...