Bawku: Security Beefed Up After Renewed Conflict

The country’s security outfit has given assurances of their resolve to maintaining the peace and security in Bawku in the Upper East Region following a renewed tension in the area.

On Sunday, reports indicated that eight people were killed when the Bolgatanga-Tamale highway was blocked by gunmen who opened fire on oncoming vehicles.

This followed Saturday night’s gun battle that claimed two lives and maimed numerous others.

In a statement issued by the Ghana Police Service, it said police and military officers had been deployed to the town to restore peace and provide security to residents.

Aside from this, it said a joint police and military force had been deployed along the Bolgatanga-Walewale-Tamale highway to manage the flow of traffic.

“The Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces would like to assure the general public that we are working to bring the situation in Bawku and its surrounding areas and along the Bogatanga-Walewale-Tamale highway under control,” the police said in a statement on Sunday night.

The Bawku conflict between the Mamprusis and the Kusasis began in 1932 when both factions sought to impose their legitimacy over the town.

According to Rev Professor John Zumah, the Executive Director of the Sanneh Institute and Visiting Professor of Yale University, the issue is not so much as to who is the legitimate Bawku Naba currently, but whose traditional homeland is Bawku.

The conflict has claimed the lives of many as well as millions of cedis. The Africa Report says 20 people died between December 2022 and February 2023 as a result of the conflict.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini