"I don’t fear gunshots; I’m the son of Jakpa" – Mahama

President John Mahama has said he does not fear gunshots.

Speaking as the special guest of honour at the Samanpiid festival in the Bawku Municipality in the Upper East region Saturday, a day after sporadic gunshots were fired in the area, Mr Mahama told the crowd: “If those gunshots were meant to deter me, the people should ask again: I’m the son of Jakpa; I don’t fear gunshots.”

Legendary King, Ndewura Jakpa, who founded the Gonja Kingdom by invading vast areas in the Northern part of present-day Ghana, was fabled to be a very brave king-warrior.

After each conquest, he would leave behind a son or a loyal servant as chief or leader of the conquered people and area. By the end of his death, the present Gonja Traditional Area – home of President Mahama – was established fully as a centralised state under his sole leadership in 1675.

Bawku is intermittently hit by inter-ethnic gun conflicts, which almost always lead to killings and destruction of property.

The Municipal Security Council has found it necessary to impose or renew curfews on the area and its surrounding towns as a result of the recurrent skirmishes.

President Mahama told the people of the area that: "Our ethnic diversity and cultural diversity here in Bawku must be a source of strength and not a source of weakness and division.

"I know that the majority of people in Bawku here want to live their lives in peace. This majority outnumbers the few who wish to thrive on the division amongst us," he said.

The theme for this Samanpiid festival is ‘promoting cultural development: the way forward, but the President wondered: "How can we promote cultural development when we have no peace?"

He described the gunshots of Friday ahead of his visit as “unacceptable”, adding that: “Sadly, today, as a result of persistent communal and ethnic conflicts, Bawku is a pale shadow of itself. Our children’s education is in jeopardy.”