Bawku accepts peace

At long last, peace has returned to Bawku, writes The Ghanaian Times. This follows the "smoking of a peace pipe" by the two major ethnic groups - Kusasis and Mamprusis - who for some time now, had engaged in arms conflict over chieftaincy matters.

The groups have resolved to use dialogue in settling all disputes instead of war. They, among others, pledged to recognize the Bawku Naba as the paramount chief of the area, use the inter- marriages between Kusasis and Mamprusis, stop the purchasing and stockpiling of arms, and use the allocation and patronage of the Bawku market as unifying factors to ensure lasting peace in the district.

These were contained in as communiqu? issued at Bawku at the weekend, as a result of a Peace and Reconciliation Consultation meeting held at Damongo in the Northern Region from June 4-8. It was under the aegis of the Bawku Peace Initiative Coalition and a Consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), World Vision Ghana, Bawku East Women's Development Association (BEWDA), UNICEF, and Northern Ghana Peace Project, as well as the Bawku East District Assembly.

Before presenting the communiqu? to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, two opinion leaders from the Mamprusi and Kusasi factions, Alhaji Sulemana Yiremaih and Mr John Ndebugre, exhorted the people especially the youth, to be law abiding and eschew acts likely to mar the peace process.