Bawku mediation has no legal basis, appears as a gargantuan political scam — Martin Amidu

Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has criticised the government’s endorsement of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II-led Bawku Mediation Report, describing the entire process as unconstitutional and deceptive.

He said neither the mediation nor the government’s subsequent statement is anchored in the 1992 Constitution or any existing law.

Mr. Amidu made the claims in an opinion editorial reacting to the presentation of the mediation report to President John Dramani Mahama and the Presidency’s official response issued a day later.

“I came away with the firm conviction that the whole performance and government statement have no foundation under the 1992 Constitution and the laws of Ghana,” he stated in part of the four page statement.

The former Attorney General also argued that the Asantehene has no constitutional or customary jurisdiction over the Bawku chieftaincy dispute because neither the Bawku Naba nor the Nayiri falls under Asante traditional authority.

According to him, the President has a constitutional duty to enforce the status quo based on existing law rather than delegate that responsibility to a mediator without legal backing.

“In the absence of the government stating the legal basis of the Asantehene’s Mediation Report, the entire exercise appears as a gargantuan political scam,” Mr. Amidu said.

He further cautioned that the proposed GHS1 billion Bawku Revitalisation Fund could become a conduit for waste and political patronage, because, in his view, money cannot resolve identity-based and protracted conflicts.

Meanwhile, the Presidency reaffirmed “the unequivocal position of the law, as consistently upheld by the Supreme Court of Ghana, that Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is the lawful Bawku Naba,” adding that no person or group is permitted to contest his authority.

Government also accepted the recommendation that rival claimant, Alhaji Seidu Abagre, be recalled to Nalerigu by the Nayiri to assume an alternative traditional role, with the state facilitating his safe movement.