PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has called for continuous peace and calm in the Bawku area following the determination of the decades-old chieftaincy conflict between the Kusasis and Mamprusis which has ravaged the area.
He said the area, which shares borders with Burkina Faso and Togo, remained critical to the overall peace of the country and must stay peaceful at all times.
“This conflict is not winnable militarily. No side can vanquish the other. In all the national security reports that I receive, there is urgency put on settling and bringing peace to Bawku so that we can safeguard our whole northern border from the terrorists and groups that are operating in our northern neighbour, Burkina Faso,” President Mahama remarked.
He made this call at the Presidency in Accra yesterday when he received the report of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu Mediation Committee into the Bawku Chieftaincy crisis.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the sole mediator, said the Committee had established that Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is the lawful heir to the Bawku skin and Paramount Chief of the Kusaug Traditional Area.
According to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the current position of the law and judicial pronouncements over the years have established the legitimacy of Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II as Bawku Naba.
“Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is the lawful chief of Bawku and the Paramount Chief of Kusaug Traditional Area. He has been a member of the National House of Chiefs for about 40 years and has been duly gazetted. His right to rule should not be disturbed, save through a judicially and constitutionally recognised process,” the Asantehene said.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said that although Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, the Nayiri and Overlord of the Mamprugu, was willing to make some concessions, he wanted the Bawku township to be under his control, a request which was not feasible.
“I have impressed upon my brother, the Nayiri, to accept the recognition of Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II as the lawful chief of Bawku in appreciation of the enduring brotherhood that has existed between our two kingdoms in order to ensure lasting peace.
“I have been candid with my brother, the Nayiri, that the purported enskinment of Mr Seguro Abagare as Bawku Naba cannot stand,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stressed.
President Mahama said that although the mediation may have ended, the next phase would focus on reconciling the factions to ensure lasting peace.
He noted that the conflict had taken an enormous toll on the development of Bawku and its environs, to the extent that teachers, doctors, nurses and other civil servants refused postings to the area, including the suspension of national service.
President Mahama assured that government would examine the report dispassionately and within the next 24 hours issue a statement outlining its definitive position.
Appreciating the efforts of the Otumfuo, the Chairman of the Peace Council, Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, said the process did not erase the past but offered hope for the future.
“Peace in Bawku will require care, fairness, consistent engagement and development that reaches the ordinary person,” he said.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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