The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on December 16, 2025, cautioned the Member of Parliament for Zebilla Constituency, Cletus Avoka, who also serves as Spokesperson for the Kusasi group, over some of his public comments on the Bawku conflict.
According to the Asantehene, some of the MP’s public statements tend to heighten tensions and undermine ongoing peace efforts in the conflict-prone area.
Presenting a mediation report to President John Dramani Mahama at the Jubilee House on December 16, 2025, Otumfuo urged Avoka to be mindful of his public utterances to advance reconciliation.
“My son Cletus Avoka, if he is here, he has to be very careful about the pronouncements he makes publicly.
“It is not right. It is a dicey situation, and we are all trying to make amends and bring people together as brothers and sisters.
“It seems he is making various pronouncements that will not lead to the peace we want. I will tell him that we want peace. We don’t make pronouncements on radio that will incense the other side. I will invite him personally and tell him. We have reached the reconciliation stage,” he said.
The Asantehene further urged public officials and opinion leaders to exercise restraint in their commentary on the conflict to avoid inciting residents or escalating tensions, as efforts continue to stabilise the situation and support government interventions.
The Zebilla MP has, on several occasions, accused the government of complicity in the ongoing Bawku chieftaincy crisis.
According to him, “This Bawku crisis could have been prevented if the government had lived up to its responsibility, if the government had demonstrated sincerity and commitment to peace in Bawku. They have not done it.”
Otumfuo issues stern warning to Cletus Avoka over Bawku conflict
He further stated, “If they had taken the advice we gave them, we didn’t even have to give advice. National Security knows it is a security matter. As soon as the man, Alhaji Bagre, enters Bawku, there will be conflict and clashes, yet they did not act.”
On another occasion, Avoka criticised Asantehene’s nomination after to mediate the conflict between the feuding factions.
Read the full account of what Cletus Avoka said about Otumfuo, as published by classfmonline.com on December 3, 2025.
Members of the Kusasi traditional group reiterated that Ghana’s Constitution and established customary laws must guide the resolution of the Bawku chieftaincy dispute.
Addressing recent tensions following Otumfuo’s mediation efforts in Kumasi, the Kusasi Spokesperson, Cletus Avoka, emphasised that the current Bawku Naba was duly enskinned in 1984 in accordance with Kusasi tradition and has since been recognised by all relevant state institutions.
He explained that the chief’s status was validated through registration with the Traditional Council, the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs and the National House of Chiefs.
The Bawku Naba was subsequently gazetted in 1986 as the Abugrago, making him the legally recognised Paramount Chief of Bawku.
The Kusasi group maintained that, both constitutionally and customarily, the Nayiri, as Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, has no authority to destool or install a chief in the Kusaug Traditional Area.
Avoka likened the Asantehene’s mediation role to Otumfuo attempting to remove the Okyenhene or the Ga Mantse, or to interfere in chieftaincy matters in the Volta Region, arguing that such actions would be impossible under Ghana’s traditional governance structure.
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The group further noted that Otumfuo’s mediation focused on encouraging all parties to respect legal processes rather than rely on influence or unilateral actions, stressing that Ghana “must be governed by right, not might.”
Avoka also argued that it was wrong for the Akufo-Addo-led administration to involve the Asantehene in mediating the Bawku crisis, adding that the President was placed in a difficult position by allowing the process to continue. He noted that discontinuing the mediation could lead to misinterpretation of government intentions.
Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson on Accra FM’s Ghana Yensom Morning, Avoka reinforced the Kusasi position that no chief can be removed without following laid-down legal procedures.
He therefore dismissed as unlawful the Nayiri’s announcement on February 15, 2023, in Nalerigu, purporting to enskin a new chief for Bawku.
According to him, the action was a violation of due process and contradicted explicit legal provisions.
He referenced a statement issued at the time by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, delivered through then Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, which described the Nalerigu development as illegal.
The government, he noted, affirmed that Bawku already has a properly installed and gazetted chief recognised by state institutions.
Tracing the historical basis of the Kusasi claim, Avoka cited a 1958 Court of Appeal judgment that ruled in favour of the Kusasi in the Bawku Paramountcy case.
Although the ruling was disrupted by the 1966 NLC Decree 112, the issue was revisited during the PNDC era.
Following extensive submissions by the Kusasi, including colonial boundaries and earlier court decisions, the government enacted PNDC Law 75 in 1983, restoring the Paramountcy in line with the 1958 judgment.
He argued that any attempt by the Nayiri to remove or replace the Bawku Naba without recourse to the courts amounts to a violation of Ghana’s rule of law.
Meanwhile, the presentation of the mediation report marks a significant step forward in national efforts led by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to restore lasting peace, stability, and reconciliation in Bawku and its surrounding communities.
The conflict has persisted for years, and President John Dramani Mahama has made resolving the issue a key priority of his administration.
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