Govt must intensify efforts to resolve escalating Bawku conflict – BONABOTO

A development think tank for the Upper East Region, BONABOTO, has strongly condemned the recent escalation of violence and killings in the Bawku area, where 21 lives have been lost and multiple injuries have been recorded.

The ongoing conflict has forced the closure of businesses and several state institutions, including the Bawku Municipal Assembly and the Binduri District Assembly.

Numerous government agencies and businesses, such as Ghana Water Ltd, NEDCO, the Agricultural Development Bank, and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), have suspended operations due to the volatile security situation.

Speaking to Channel One News, BONABOTO National President, Professor Samuel Atintono, urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to treat the Bawku conflict as an urgent matter, calling for intervention to address the ongoing violence, including the illegal roadblocks set up to target and harm travellers.

“I think that the two factions ought to sit around and resolve. But as I said, the government also has a larger say in this. You control the army, you control the police. We cannot watch people killing themselves and then we sit back. Of course, there have been security increases in the area in terms of their presence. But you watch what happened on the Bolga-Walewale road recently. It is not something good.

“We should think that the security needs to increase their presence and the government has to get down to all these people who are involved in it. It looks like we are attempting to deal with a problem, but not actually being very serious about resolving this matter.”

—CitiNewsroom