The Bawku Crisis

I heard about the Bawku conflict in the 1980’s only to witness it in 2007. The tribal conflict that erupted on New Year’s Eve which has lasted till date is worrying and will need a brave and determined state apparatus with authentic and reliable information on the Bawku skin to resolve the conflict and for lasting peace to reign. Some unscrupulous individuals have used the crisis situation to indulge in other nefarious activities that undermine law and order. It appears the previous government was ‘playing games’ with the situation in Bawku and using it for their political gain, hence its inability to stick out its neck to give a harsh running on the situation. This could be the cause of the escalation of the situation one and half years later. According to some researchers, politics/governments in the past have contributed to chieftaincy crisis in Ghana. The previous government has confirmed this assertion since nothing concrete was done to solve the crisis. If the president could delegate Mr. Kofi Anan to mediate in the Kenyan election crisis why was he unable to do the same for Bawku especially that these incidences occurred at the same time? As a matter of fact the people of Bawku who are seriously affected by the conflict can take the government to task for neglecting its responsibility of protecting its citizens from foreign and domestic aggression.

The increasing insecurity of Bawku, a border town and a brisk business district has a lot of implications. The border could become an easy entry point for cross border crime. Considering the state of the world economy with increasing prices of food, insecurity in Bawku coupled with increasing environmental degradation could worsens the plight of people in the area. Bawku is a farming community noted for producing millet, sorghum, onions among others and a transit point for goods from neighbouring countries. It is also a place where cattle are transported to the southern part of the country. In time of crisis these economic activities dwindle. This will consequently affect the revenue of the municipality and in its stead high spending on security personnel and other conflict resolution strategies. The conflict has transformed from the killing of men to the slaughter of women, children and the aged. These killings could as well spread to other towns and cities where these rivals have moved to seek refuge probably as internally displaced persons. Human rights abuses unleashed by security personnel are so rampant and human rights organisations seem not to be concern until women and children are murdered, which gives the impression that when men are killed or brutalised by the military or forced to stay indoors for twenty two hours (22hrs) it is normal but when a child or a woman dies it becomes a talk in parliament. My argument is that a human rights issue should be treated as important whether unleashed on men, women or children. Immediately after the NDC government came into power, it was announced that people in possession of unlicensed weapons should willingly hand them over to the police for a Ghc 300 reward. This did not yield any positive results because no one from Bawku surrendered his/her weapon. I recall it was someone from Tamale who responded positively to this announcement. When one critically examines why this announcement did not go well with people who possess illegal weapons, it appears that Ghc 300 is not rewarding enough. According to information I have gathered a ‘good weapon’ cost between Ghc 1200-1500. This goes to say that it will be highly unwise for someone to give Ghc 1200 (worth of arms) for a petty Ghc 300. The security agencies will therefore have to reconsider this. It also appears security intelligence is not properly utilised to curtail the situation in the area. A more conscientious effort needs to be made to apprehend those who want to undermine the peace of the area. This ruthless and nonsensical episode that occasionally erupts reveals that Bawku though small could be a source of tremendous worry to the whole country hence the need for all stakeholders, both governmental and nongovernmental to show greater concern and help the people of Bawku to solve their problem. We congratulate the NDC administration for its swift response to the March 2009 crisis through the delegation of the Vice President as an envoy of peace and the audience granted by the president during his visit to the Upper East Region in addition to the numerous visits by the minister of interior. We hope this exemplary leadership skill will reflect in subsequent mediation efforts to bring lasting peace to Bawku.

The work of the National peace council and other organisations in their mediation efforts should be applauded. These stakeholders can only be mediators, for it is only the people of Bawku who know the solution to their problems. However these mediations have to go a step further from talks with elders and opinion leaders to compelling youth leaders to sign undertakings to be enforced by the security agencies. It appears the youth do not listen to their elders anymore that is why pockets of violence exists even days after the president had met with opinion leaders and chiefs from the area. The youth should be the main targets at this point, since pockets of unrest have emerged and I have the conviction that if youth leaders were involved, most of the perpetrators of this unrest will have been apprehended. Another possibility is for the youth leaders to be arrested anytime there is any disturbance. A youth in Bawku identifies himself with one of the youth groups dotted around the township. Leaders of these groups need to be involved in peace talks and should be made vigilantes and accept to expose any youth who plans or takes the uneasy calm of the area for granted. The judiciary also has to be swift in prosecuting murderers, people who possess firearms and others with intention of causing harm to other. After people are arrested they get bailed and subsequently released for unknown reasons.

It appears the media only becomes interested in issues that involve people in high standing such as the death of the Municipal Commissioner of the CHRAJ. It is the irresponsible attitude towards the death of ordinary people that degenerate into the death of prominent people. The media should therefore focus attention on such people on trial instead of paying attention to the Tsatsu’s and Ata Ayi’s at the fast track high court. People should be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others. Certain parts of Bawku are completely deserted or burnt down which should be an impetus for the numerous media houses to do a documentary on the situation in Bawku, a lot of issues will be revealed when this is done.

In my view as a person trained on development issues and a native of the area, I consider poverty and illiteracy as additional militating factors against the realisation of sustainable peace. The Archbishop of Tamale in his article on the conflict situation in certain parts of the North lamented and raised questions on why tribes in areas such as Bolga, Navrongo and Sandema among others are not associated with violence unlike people from Bawku and Tamale. There is therefore a peculiar problem in Bawku that need special attention. It is this special attention that government needs to consider some of which I have listed above.

By Bernard Gumah

MSc. International Development Studies bernsure@hotmail.com