By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, March 21, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama has urged feuding factions in the protracted Bawku chieftaincy disputes to embrace the peace mediation efforts initiated by the government to bring peace to the area.
Since his assumption into office, President Mahama has prioritised the resolution of the Bawku conflict aimed at restoring lasting peace and to enhance development.
To this end, President has engaged various stakeholders with the Asantehene Osei Tutu II leading the mediation efforts to reach a common ground.
Speaking in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region as part of his nationwide Thank you tour, President Mahama underscored the need to stop the violence and chart a path of peace.
“It is my hope that all parties to the conflict who took part in the mediation process last week will consider the proposal with an open mind and return in good faith to the negotiations when they resume in two weeks,” he appealed.
President Mahama said all interventions aimed at enhancing socioeconomic development, improving livelihoods and the future envisioned would amount to nothing if efforts were not taken to address violence and mistrust, where communities lived on broken grounds and under curfews.
“A nation divided by past wounds cannot march forward into the promise of tomorrow. We must commit to living above dislikes and injuries of yesterday if we will seize the opportunities of the promises of tomorrow.
“Let us choose peace not out of fear but out of strength, not as a surrender but as the highest act of courage to secure our collective quest for progress.
“Let history remember us not for the battles we fought against one another but for the unity we forged in the face of disagreement”, he said.
He said achieving peace in Bawku and its environs was possible and all stakeholders involved in the conflict must work towards achieving it.
President Mahama condemned the recent killing of a military officer in Bawku, stressing that it was unacceptable for the security personnel who were stationed to ensure peace became targets of conflict to which they were not party to.
Similarly, the President condemned the reprisal action of the military which led to the death of innocent lives, urging the military to employ intelligence to identify culprits for them to face the law.
“I wish to on this occasion send my condolences to the family of the deceased soldier and at the same time to send my sympathies to all those who were assaulted or injured in the military counter action,” he added.
The Bawku conflict has ravaged for several decades on the true rulers of Bawku.
Since, its re-emergence in November 2021, at least 250 lives have been lost, several property destroyed while several others maimed.
The conflict has affected economic activities, education and healthcare as markets, schools and health facilities have been forced to close down multiple times.
GNA
FAA/GRB