Bawku(UER), Aug. 18, GNA - Mr Abudulai Abanga, Bawku Municipal Chief Executive last weekend commended members of Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) for assisting victims in the Bawku conflict with relief items. They included maize, beans, cocking oil and salt valued at 140,000 Ghana cedis. Mr Abanga made the commendation after a monitoring team from the Society had conducted newsmen round to inspect distribution of relief items to the victims.
The items were shared among 1,000 households from Kusasis, Mamprusis and other ethnic groups affected by the conflict. Each household received 60 kilogrammes of maize, 20 kilogrammes of beans, 10 litres of cooking oil and a kilogramme of salt. Mr Abanga said the items would help ameliorate suffering of the victims and families that had difficulty in feeding themselves due to the conflict. He appealed to the society and other philanthropists to assist the victims with building materials since most of them had their buildings destroyed during the conflict and were staying with friends and relatives. Mr Abanga noted that calm had returned to the area and business activities were picking up and appealed to the feuding factions to help maintain the prevailing peace. He asked them to always use dialogue to resolve their differences and resort to the courts instead of conflict which worsen situations. Mr Abanga said members of the National Peace Council were working hard to find a lasting solution to the Bawku conflict which had been in existence before independence and kept on recurring. He said the assembly had embarked on sensitization programmes to resolve the conflict.
Mr Sebastian Brack, Upper East Regional Communication Coordinator of ICRC who conducted newsmen round stressed the need for the people to use dialogue to resolve their differences instead of violence which led to deaths and destruction. He said the Society would continue to monitor the trend of affairs in Bawku and provide them with the needed assistance. Most of the victims who spoke to Ghana News Agency expressed their appreciation to the Society and appealed to other philanthropists for assistance.
