The relative peace in Bawku, after the 2024 elections, was shattered on Wednesday, when fight broke out, leaving one person dead and the private residence of the Bawku Divisional Police Commander, ACP Adamu Seidu, set on fire. Two other individuals are reported to be critically injured.
According to media report, this incident occurred when one of the factions involved in the prolonged chieftaincy dispute demanded that women from the opposing faction, who were trading in their market, leave.
A scuffle broke out, prompting the police to intervene in an attempt to restore calm. However, some young people allegedly opened fire on the police, leading to a return of gunfire from the officers.
The persistent bloodletting in Bawku, demands more than just condemnation and calls for calm. It necessitates immediate, decisive action and a fundamental rethinking of our approach to conflict resolution and security management in that part of the country.
The pattern of violence in Bawku is both predictable and preventable. Communities are attacked, innocent civilians killed, government officials express outrage, security forces are deployed, arrests are made, and promises of justice echo through the country. Yet a few weeks or months later, the cycle repeats itself with devastating precision.
In the considered opinion of this newspaper, this recurrence raises serious questions about the effectiveness of our security architecture and the political will to address the root causes of these conflicts.
The innocent people in Bawku are trapped in a cycle of fear, mourning, and retribution. With each attack, the social fabric of the state is further torn apart, and the prospect of peaceful coexistence becomes increasingly remote.
Residents are unable to return to their farms, exacerbating food insecurity in a town that was self-sufficient in food production Children are traumatized, their education disrupted, and their future blighted by the shadow of violence, workers, have to flee the town, leaving hospitals and other offices, like banks deserted.
This is the human cost of our collective failure to secure the lives and property of citizens in accordance with the constitutional mandate of government.
Residents of Bawku, from the two factions, i.e. Mamprusis and Kusasis, must resist the temptation to take justice into their own hands
. Retaliatory attacks only perpetuate the cycle of violence and undermine the rule of law. Religious and community leaders have a responsibility to promote restraint and reconciliation, difficult as these may be in the face of profound loss and anger.
As the nation mourns the latest victim of this senseless violence, we call on the government to move beyond rhetoric to concrete action.
The cycle of violence in Bawku is not inevitable; it can and must be broken.
This will require political courage, honest dialogue, and a genuine commitment to justice and reconciliation. The people of Bawku have suffered enough.
