By Anthony AdongoApubeo
Bawku (U/E), Jan 14, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama says he will make nominations to the various security ministries and agencies this week.
The move is to quickly take charge of the security architecture and help resolve concerns across the country.
The President made the announcement in Bawku during a visit to the Bawku Naba, Zugraan Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, Overlord of Kusaug Traditional Area at his Palace.
The visit formed part of the President’s commitment to engaging the feuding factions and stakeholders, aimed at resolving the protracted Bawku Chieftaincy conflict that had lasted for decades.
The President assured the chiefs and people of Bawku of his resolve to bring lasting peace to Bawku to drive socio-economic development.
“So, within this week we will do the appointments of the Minister of Defence, Minister of the Interior, the National Security Advisor, the National Security Coordinator, the National Intelligence Bureau Director and all the others and these appointments are made, I am going to charge them to make Bawku one of the number one priorities they attend and deal with,” he indicated.
President indicated that bringing peace to Bawku was one of the top priorities of his administration and would work with the relevant stakeholders to achieve the objective.
“During the campaign, I stated that if God granted our desires and I was President, bringing peace to Bawku was going to be one of my number one priorities.
“So, today is exactly one week when I was sworn at the Black Stars Square and it is my first major assignment outside Accra and I decided to come and assure you that we are going to work very hard to make sure that we bring peace back to Bawku”.
The President remembered that when he was President, Bawku and its surrounding areas were very peaceful and everyone went about their duties but the situation could not be said to be the same in recent times.
“It is sad that situation has occurred again and I know that for the last three years you have not been able to sleep, you have been living under stressed and so the priority of our government is to bring peace back to Bawku so that everybody can go about their duties without fear of harassment”, he stressed.
President Mahama indicated that he was abreast with the issues in Bawku and appealed to the chiefs and people of the area to be patient as the government worked to bring permanent peace back to the area.
“.We cannot live in a country where our people do not feel safe, our people must feel safe to travel safe whenever they want and at whatever time and not have people shooting at them and so you can be sure that we will deal with these situations so that we all can have the peace we need in order that our traditional areas can progress “, he added.
The President was accompanied by Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, Acting Spokesperson to the President, Mr Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central Constituency.
The President would later pay a similar visit to the Nayiri, Naa Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga, Overlord of Mamprugu in Nalerigu in the North East Region.
At least 40 people have lost their lives since the conflict re-emerged in October, 2024.
GNA