The youth in a press release noted that that some misguided youth have made it a trade in disturbing the peace in Bawku as well as undermining the authority of the Bawku Naba.
They among other things called on the security agencies to arrest the handlers of two main Facebook accounts; ‘bawku links and moshienaaba’ for consistently fueling tension in the municipality.
Meanwhile, The Herald has picked up information that some mourners at Seinnatenga in the municipality were on the morning hours of Thursday attacked at the grave yard during a burial service. The development has increase fear and panic in the municipality as people call on the security agencies to increased vigilance.
Below is the press release.
A PRESS CONFERENCE BY KUSAUG YOUTH MOVEMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE RECENT OUTRAGEOUS TALKS AND SPORADIC SHOOTING BY SOME MISGUIDED ELEMENTS WITHIN THE BAWKU MAMPRUSIS WHICH IS AIMED AT TANISHING THE IMAGE OF KUSAUG AND THE SUPREME AUTHORITY OF THE ZUG-RAAN
Ladies and gentlemen of the media. We humbly welcome you to this urgent press conference of which you have made it practically possible to be here to listen to us, to state our case on the recent unfortunate developments in Bawku and its surroundings.
THIS press conference to share with you and the entire world the chronicles of activities that nearly breached the otherwise peaceful atmosphere in Bawku and its environs after ten years of relative peace.
It must be stated unequivocally that, the genesis of current situation is a culmination of the disgusting activities through a series of communications across social media platforms which include Facebook and WhatsApp, bearing the accounts as weird as” Moshie Naba” and “Bawku Links” which are both owned and operated by faceless individuals which we believe are Mamprusis and their allies. Considering the denigrating and derogatory statements with insulting comments under the comments sections by people believed to be their accomplices, their only interest and aim is to break the statutory laws of Ghana and traditional laws of the Kusaug Kingdom.
The comments are tribal in content, targeting the Zug-Rana, ASIGRI ABUGRAGO AZOKA II, of the Kusaug Traditional Area, of which Bawku is the Capital, thereby making non-existent and undeserved claims. What is more worrying is another Facebook page owned and operated by one man with the name Naa Tampuri purported to be the son of one man who died as a commoner in exile. The said person has made it clear that there won’t be peace in the Bawku and its environs and went further to claim that, they would do all things within the means to kill and destroy Kusaas.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, it will surprise you to know that, this notorious social media commentator is deriving his support from the Nayiri and the Mamprugu kingdom. The loud silence of the chief of Nayiri to all these mischievous activities perpetuated by these ignoramuses suggest to us that, the Mamprugu kingdom is at war with Kusaas.
He and his cartel have used all manner of words of violence, displayed picture of a rifle believed to be an AK-47 assault weapon on social media, and yet all those criminals are still walking as free men on the streets of Bawku town and continuously threatening Kusaas and other tribes in the minority. We expect that effective investigations should have led to the arrest of these operators of that social media book-page and clip down the spread and intensity of those uncivilized and emotional evoking comments.
We have genuine reasons to suspect that, aside the support of the Nayiri, the criminal elements have been emboldened by unseen hands and powerful people within the corridors of power. Their activities in Bawku continued without caution. We could see that the people who are behind the perpetuators have interests best known to them.
Dampare in Ghana is now a household name and we are so surprised that this open threats, blowing of war trumpets and numerous unsolicited audio recordings of planned attacks from these blood-thirsty, war mongering men do not even attract the attention of DrDampare, the IGP, the interior Minister and the entire security segment. Does this attitude of the security suggest to us that, we the Kusaas should protect our own ranks? Don’t the laws of Ghana work in our case?
We are of no doubt that these criminals are only interested to destabilize the peace, and truncate the development of the area.
They’re such a flagitious Interlopers that they hardly think about the development of our Bawku.
We are aware that they are out to mar the beauty of the forthcoming Samanpiid celebrations. What a failed hope!
Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, the urge to destroy and to see nothing good about Bawku is in the DNA of the Bawku Mamprusis, and we are never surprised with the recent development which got us to the stage at a crossroad.
They have moved from insults, insinuations and abuse of the Overlord of the Kusaug Kingdom to the claim that, they want to perform the funeral of their late “chief” whose funeral rites wereappropriately performed forty-one(41) years ago and their desire to install a parallel chief to the Gazette Paramount chief of Kusaug even though they are Mamprusis from Mamprugu.
For the records, the man they claimed was a chief, was rather family head and died as such. We all know that, as a Moslem as he was, the very final funeral rite has since been performed accordingly.
We, the Kusaas youth have never been violent and has always loved peace. The Kusaug Traditional Area is made up of six Districts, and in a whole, is ours and so for which reason should we cause to destroy our area.
The Mamprusi know that when things become critical as it may happen one day, they could move to Mamprugu in the North East, where the claim they came from. If their insults and claims of Chieftaincy is not advised and stopped forthwith, they would soon be compelled by their own generated circumstances to end up leaving hurriedly to wherever they claim to have come from. Nobody would ever sit down to be tormented on his own land. The days of colonization and atrocities meted out to Kusaas are over. We wish to ask them to be sober and respectful to Zug-Rana and his subjects so that at the appropriate time they would be made community chiefs like other communities that live and respect Kusasis.
We the youth of Kusaug have been very co-operative with the peace and pace of development of the area but in our case, we feel enough has not been done by the security and the government to apprehend these usurpers and hoodlums.
The same Mamprusis, without reasonable causes, withdrew from the inter-ethnic peace initiative twice, thereby stifling the road map leading to the lasting peace in Kusaug. This official withdrawal was published in major headlines of the newspapers and other news portals.
We equally wish to tell Ghanaians that, we the Kusaas will eventually walk out from the same peace committee because the Mamprusi only customize their agreement for the sake of performing their Damba and getting their favorite appointees endorsed at the Assembly levels and thereafter walk backwards and stampeding our Samanpiid festival.
The Government and security forces haven’t whipped them back in the line, making them demi-gods over everybody in the country. They dictate the pace of peace in Bawku and decide when to break it whimsically.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, despite all those unprovoked attacks on the personality of Zug-rana, we never retaliated same either in part or equal measure but the Mamprusis still had the nerves to attack some part of Kusaug just because they claimed, in their recorded tapes, to have people in the corridors of power who are bent on using the security to their advantage to destroy and perform the funeral of a commoner, who has been a subject matter of a Supreme Court instant disbandment.
In a twist of injustice, the government through the Minister for Interior has issued a directive imposing a curfew within the hours of 4:00 pm-6:00 am, which we believe can’t quell down these marauders and the tension. It would rather heighten the tension looking at the conduct and effects of previous curfews imposed in the area years back and the results. Curfews never enable peace; nor do they promote peaceful co-existence of indigenous citizens and settlers. Respect for each other and reasoning amalgamate to bringing conflict resolution. Justice consolidates peace. There is more to do to curtail this mess than the reactive nature of the interior Minister. How can we have institutions like, the National Security Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Regional Security Council very viable and these provocations have up scaled from facebook threats to gun shooting levels by known persons. Wasn’t there any Intel picked from the time these criminals and hoodlums were making those provocative pronouncements and mobilization of arms and ammunitions? Why didn’t they step in to find appropriate means to curb the situation? Couldn’t the national security apparatuses make attempts to seriously investigate arrest and prosecute individuals who began this agenda, spanning the whole of this year?
We are by this statement asking the Interior Minister to reverse the imposition of the curfew and find better ways of arresting these criminals and stop punishing innocent people for another mess caused by the nilly willy Mamprusis. We want the government to stop massaging the issue and effect arrest of all those social media guys who brought us to this stage, as well as all their supposed agents and “regents”, including any other person parading themselves as heirs to non-existent thrones. We also call on the security to be wary of unscrupulous people who may fake themselves as security personals to cause mayhem as we are aware of what happens some years back where these people were purported to have won security uniform to murder women and children in Boabulaa suburb of Bawku within curfew hours.
It is sad that, the time every country is grappling with economic crunches as a result of the corona virus pandemic, the Bawku Mamprusis, instead of channeling their expertise and strengths into profitable economic ventures, are rather chasing whirlwinds. Can pre-colonial tales lead you to chieftaincy in this 21st century? Wake up from your slumber and stop and stop dreaming self-tickling.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the media, we wish to assure the good people of Ghana that, Kusaas are peace-loving and very accommodating personalities and will always do anything within their powers to protect the prevailing peace and ensure continues development of Bawku, our golden town, from the activities of any nation wreckers.
Thanks to all.
ABUGRI A HARUNA
(Chairman)
0243855080
AYAABA ADAMS APUNEN
(Secretary)
0242620947
