Bawku peace talks yielding encouraging commitment to dialogue – National Peace Council

The National Peace Council (NPC) has stated that ongoing engagements between the Kusasi and Mamprusi communities as part of efforts to resolve the Bawku conflict are yielding encouraging commitment to dialogue.

The Council said discussions facilitated with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Japan had been frank and constructive.

It urged stakeholders to remain patient, saying lasting peace would require sustained dialogue, trust and ownership by the communities themselves.

The Council, in a statement issued on Thursday, August 27, said participants had been given the opportunity to openly share their concerns and aspirations for peace.

“The NPC, with UNDP and the Government of Japan, reports that ongoing engagements with the Kusasi and Mamprusi communities continue to yield encouraging commitment to dialogue in Bawku," the statement read in part.

The NPC also cautioned the media, commentators and social media users against spreading unverified claims, videos and voice notes that could inflame tensions in the conflict-prone area.

It said the emergence of artificial intelligence-generated audio, videos and images had made responsible communication even more important, as such material could easily be mistaken for authentic information.

“Social media must not become another arena for the conflict," the council cautioned.

The Council further stated that the peace that eventually emerges from the process must be one that the people of Bawku themselves own and protect.

The latest engagement forms part of continuing efforts to find a lasting solution to the longstanding conflict between the Kusasi and Mamprusi communities in Bawku.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, led a separate mediation process between the two factions in 2024 and 2025 and presented his final report to President John Dramani Mahama in December 2025.