The Upper East Caucus in Parliament has made a passionate appeal to the feuding parties in Bawku and all who matter to work hard towards fostering peace and unity.
According to the Caucus, it is imperative to return Bawku back to calm and normalcy to give the citizenry the needed peace of mind to continue their lives and restore the town to its commercial status.
Bawku, the MPs said, is a strategic location bordering the Republic of Togo to the East and Burkina Faso to the north, making it a very significant trading hub in the Upper East Region and therefore a conflict affects so many people both in Ghana and neighbouring countries.
MP for Builsa North, James Agalga who made the plea in an interview in Parliament on behalf of the Caucus noted the law enforcement agents that have been deployed following the imposition of the curfew have done their best to ensure some relative calm returns to Bawku.
He applauded the Regional Security Council and the Regional Minister for the efforts and urged them to continue to work to bring the feuding factions together to the negotiation table.
“We appeal to all to resort to peaceful means in resolving the conflict in Bawku. There can never be a winner or a loser in armed conflict and so this is a direct appeal,” he pleaded.
According to the Caucus, what makes it very compelling for there to be unity in Bawku is because the people are so close and interrelated comprising intertwined families made up of both Mamprusis and Kusasis.
He said, “Often times we hear about Kusasis and Mamprusis but these people are the same; in terms of their language and their culture, they are about the same.”
“There are so many intermarriages so you find in Bawku, every household contains somebody of Mamprusi or Kusasi extraction or if you trace the lineage of many people, you find they are half-blooded Mamprusi or Kusasi.”
“It is therefore needless for us to resort to armed conflict at this point,” he added.
Hon. James Agalga disclosed that the Bawku conflict has its genesis in the 1950s, which has periodically been erupting and unfortunately reared its ugly face again on 21st November, 2021.
The conflict, he said, is therefore not a new phenomenon but stressed it important the feuding parties move away from these clashes in this new century and find a common ground for co-existence.
Source: Mypublisher24.com