Kitoe (Northern Region), 19 Feb. '99 -

The people of Kitoe in the East Gonja District have returned home to resettle after abandoning the village for seven years as a result of an ethnic conflict that engulfed the district. The village recorded the heaviest casualty in the 1992 ethnic conflict between Gonjas and other ethnic groups in the district. Seventy- two people were believed to have died.

Speaking to newsmen about the resettlement programme, Mr Enimu Ekumato Bakeri, a traditional elder, said about 30 households have so far returned since the programme started last week, adding that "some of them are very anxious to return". He expressed gratitude to the government and the various non-governmental organisations for the food, clothing and other forms of relief assistance they gave to the people during the period they lived as refugees in Salaga and surrounding villages.

Mr Bakeri said they were encouraged to go back by the National Mobilisation Programme which assisted them with farms and houses. He said the main problem facing his people is access to a clinic and a school. GRi.../