A middle-aged man has been shot and killed by unknown assailants near Kalba, a suburb of the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District in the Savannah Region.
Police confirmed that the deceased, whose name has been withheld, had travelled from Uro—his community without electricity—to Kalba to charge his mobile phone.
He was ambushed by gunmen who emerged from the bush and shot him while on his motorcycle, killing him instantly.
His body has since been deposited at St. Anne’s Catholic Hospital in Damongo.
Local stakeholders have linked the killing to the protracted Gbenyiri conflict, which has claimed multiple lives, destroyed property, and displaced more than 50,000 people. On August 23, a dispute between a Gbenyiri resident and the chief’s son over a parcel of land triggered violent clashes.
The conflict spread the following day to Kalba and other parts of the district, leaving scores injured and communities destabilised. Despite the deployment of 400 police personnel to restore peace, the latest incident brings the official death toll from the conflict to 32.
Recently, Inspector General of Police Patrick Tetteh Yohunu, accompanied by senior officials from the Armed Forces, Prisons Service, and Immigration Service, toured Kalba, Sawla, and other affected communities to assess the situation.
However, residents say their confidence in the security presence remains low.
“With this killing, who do you think will trust the system again? Some of us suspected this to happen because the guys are still around in Kalba town, and if you deceive yourself and go there, they will just end your life like this farmer,” a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, stressing that authorities “need to do more than just talk and go.”
