This paper assesses the effects of inter-ethnic chieftaincy and land conflicts on the
socio-political development of northern Ghana. The knowledge gap the study sought to fill is
the use of theoretical antecedents to illustrate that conflicts have some merits for
socio-political development and that conflict theories equally depict solutions to conflicts.
Methodologically, the study makes use of content analysis of secondary data, by following
the tenets of the realistic group conflict theory. Examples were drawn from the Konkomba,
Gonja, Nanumba, Dagomba, Kusasi, Mo and the Sissala disputes of emancipation. It was
revealed that major positive effects of the conflicts include improvement in the
decision-making processes on community development issues, strengthening of inter-ethnic
unity and helping to redeem the identity of a group. The destruction of life and property is the
major demerit. It was recommended that civic education on the causes and effects of the
conflicts by authentic participation of potential disputants could provide a more sustainable
way of preventing conflict.