Democracy and Peace-building in Ghana: Paradoxes and Challenges.

The search for an efficient peace-building mechanism is an increasingly topical issue among governments, international bodies and civil society organisations as the appropriate tool for preventing or resolving conflicts. Ghana is perceived to have an efficient peace-building mechanism that has steered her away from conflicts, which have engulfed her West African neighbours, namely Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. Using chieftaincy (chiefship) conflicts in Ghana as a case study, this article seeks to analyse the efficiency of the peace-building mechanism of the Ghanaian state. It also highlights the effect of the mechanism on society, rule of law, democracy, good governance and human security in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]