Ghana's immigration chief has offered to ask the interior minister to lift a night-time curfew in Hamile, a town on Ghana's north-western border with Burkina Faso, if local leaders guarantee lasting peace. A police commander reported a limited border reopening, while a Ghanaian advocacy group said trucks bound for Burkina Faso were still waiting.
On 3 November a deadly explosion on an unapproved route near the border was followed by disturbances, ChannelOne News reported, citing the state news agency GNA. Officials say officers had tried to stop a tricycle allegedly carrying dynamite. Unrest followed, and the interior minister imposed a curfew, initially from 6 pm to 5 am and later from 10 pm to 4 am, GNA reported. GNA says the disturbances also led to the closure of the border.
Over the weekend, Comptroller-General of Immigration Samuel Basintale Amadu met chiefs, young people and the local development committee. Community leaders apologised for the violence and appealed for the curfew to end and for the border to reopen to vehicles. Amadu said he would raise lifting the curfew with the interior minister; MyJoyOnline reports that he would recommend it by Monday, provided local leaders could guarantee sustained peace. He also promised to help clear the backlog of trucks, to transfer officers who had stayed too long in their posts after complaints about their conduct, and to start a community policing initiative.
His argument for keeping goods moving came from the security side. Mali now uses this crossing heavily for cargo, he said, and closing it even for six hours creates queues; people crowding between stationary vehicles are hard to control, so "it is better to process them quickly and let the trucks move".
What the border is doing now is reported differently. The regional police commander welcomed a limited reopening, though business had not resumed, MyJoyOnline reports. Community leaders were still asking for vehicle traffic to resume. The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), a Ghanaian advocacy group, said long-haul trucks heading to Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries remained stranded, based on information from its local contacts. FOSDA also said food vendors, traders and transport operators were losing income, and called for a transparent investigation into the explosives and the shooting.
The decision on the curfew now rests with the interior minister. Lifting it would ease life for residents, but for drivers and traders further along the supply line, what matters is whether the trucks can cross.