By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, May 2, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated government’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the protracted chieftaincy conflict in Bawku.
The longstanding conflict re-emerged in November 2021, and has since claimed many lives and destroyed lots of property with many people, especially public sector workers, fleeing the area.
The conflict has affected healthcare and education delivery, halted economic activities and is raising security concerns to the country, considering the area’s proximity to the Sahelian region which had been experiencing violent extremism in recent years.
“In response to the appeal by the Secretary-General to intensify efforts at bringing peace to Bawku, I want to assure him and, indeed, the nation at large, that there is no higher priority for government on the agenda of national security than the resolution of the Bawku conflict,” he said.
The President was speaking at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, at the celebration of the International Workers Day, on the theme, “Protecting Incomes and Pensions in an Era of Economic Crisis; our Responsibility.”
The President noted that the government was engaging with all the relevant stakeholders involved in the conflict to ensure that sustainable peace and stability returned to the area to promote economic growth.
“Not only are we enhancing, as we speak, the security deployment in the area to promote more strongly the rule of law, and hold accountable all who violate law and order in the area, we are also intensifying the efforts to find a solution to the customary tensions that underline the Bawku conflict, so that, hopefully, a final resolution of that conflict can be attained, just as it has been attained in Dagbon.
“Nothing will give me greater pleasure, in the concluding days of my presidency, than to help bring lasting peace to Bawku. May God grant me the wisdom to achieve that outcome,” he said.
Dr Yaw Baah, the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) urged the government to intensify efforts to bring peace to Bawku as quickly as possible and appealed to the factions to give peace a chance.
He called on the government to fix the economy through cutting down expenditure on non-essential projects to bring relief to Ghanaians.
Some of the dignitaries present included Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations; Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister of the Interior; Mr Bright Wireko Brobbey, Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations; Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister; Ms Tangoba Abayage, former Upper East Regional Minister; Tongraan Kugbilsong Nalebetang, Paramount Chief of the Talensi Traditional Area and some Municipal and District Chief Executives.
More than 30 labour unions participated in the celebration.
GNA