President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed grave concerns about the chieftaincy clashes in Bawku.
The president was worried that a once thriving town in the Upper East Region is fast becoming a wasteland of destruction and mistrust due to the unending conflicts within the area.
In his view, the huge monies spent on quelling the conflict and building peace could have been redirected into developmental projects to benefit the indigenes of the town and its surroundings.
President Akufo-Addo made these remarks in his State of the Nation’s Address to parliament on Tuesday Fabrasury 27.
Addressing the house he said “the tragedy is not only that a thriving and dynamic town is being reduced to a wasteland of destruction and distrust, we are spending money and energy that would have been better spent on development needs of Bawku, providing security to keep brothers and sisters from killing each other.”
He further pointed out that beyond the internal troubles caused by the conflict, the deeper concern is that Bawku is becoming an attractive site to violent extremists who may take advantage of the conflict to destabilize the nation.
“Mr Speaker, what should concern all of us and not just the people of Bawku is that, in its current state, Bawku is an alluring magnet to mischief makers and extremists operating a few kilometres across from the border.”
President Akufo-Addo took nthe opportunity to outline a number of actions taken by the government to bring finality to the Bawku disturbances.
He announced the establishment of a special Bawku Taskforce, and the intensification of engagements with the factions for the resolution of the chieftaincy dispute as well as the establishment of specialised Courts in Accra and in Kumasi to deal expeditiously with criminal matters emanating from the Bawku conflict.
“Government is determined to do all it can to ensure there is security in every inch of the territory of our country, but it also is very much up to the citizens to help create the needed atmosphere, and I am, thus, appealing to all citizens to take the See Something, Say Something campaign of the Ministry of National Security very seriously,” Mr Akufo-Addo assured.
The recently shut down four radio stations in Bawku according to the president is also another recommendation to deal with the crisis since these media were promoting hate speech and propaganda.