MAMPRUGU KING TO INTERVENE IN BAWKU CONFLICT (PAGE 31)

(Published March 18)

STORY: VINCENT ADEZDE, NALERIGU

THE King of Mamprugu, Nayiri Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, has resolved to personally intervene in the protracted Bawku conflict by consulting the National House of Chiefs, the elders and sub-chiefs in his kingdom to help find a lasting solution to the crisis.
He cautioned politicians and the youth in the Northern and Upper East regions to refrain from further reprisals and to “rise above their parochial interests to help heal the deep excruciating pain that the people of Bawku have already endured”.
Naa Bohugu stated this during a press conference at Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District of the Northern Region. The conference was, among other objectives, to appeal to the feuding factions, especially the youth, to lay down their arms and bring hostilities to an immediate end.
The ongoing violent conflict between the Kusasis and the Mamprusis which began at Sabon Gari in the Upper East Region in December last year has claimed a number of lives.
The king further called on the government to “intervene cautiously and be impartial in its quest to help find and restore lasting peace to the area.
“I further appeal to the government and the Ministry of the Interior to review the long hours of curfew imposed on the area, as it has serious health implications, especially in this period of the Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM),” Naa Bohugu added.
He entreated “all Mamprugu youth, especially those in Nalerigu, Gambaga, Langbinsi, Walewale and Bolgatanga to remain calm and not to indulge in retaliatory attacks on the lives and property of the Kusasis who travel through Mamprugu or are resident in these parts of my kingdom”.
The king called on political commentators to “refrain from making irresponsible pronouncements on the situation in Bawku in order to score political points”.
The Nayiri expressed regret at the way perpetrators of the violence were fuelling the conflict, stressing that “those who fuel and fund the conflict must put an immediate end to their activities before they are consumed by their own misdeeds”.
He was also not happy about the continuous loss of lives in the conflict, despite the presence of the security agencies.
Naa Bohugu further stated that traditional means must be used to resolve the chieftaincy problem, adding that the Mamprusi regent should be allowed to perform his father’s funeral as part of the peace efforts in that area.
Responding to a question as to why he waited for so long before that latest intervention, the Nayiri explained that as an elderly man, he decided to carefully study the events as they unfolded but had now realised that in spite of the efforts by the government and the security agencies, the conflict continued to claim more lives.
Touching on his traditional jurisdiction, the king emphasised, “My kingdom remains the oldest in Ghana and started in Pusiga-Bawku and some parts of the Upper East Region, such as Nangode, Sakote, Tongo, Zuarungu and Bongo.
“It should be noted that towns such as Binduri, Teishi, Worikambo and Tanga were all enskinned by my kingdom. Therefore, any person or group of persons who want or attempt to rewrite the history of this tradition by whichever means must put a stop to it or face the wrath of the gods,” Naa Bohugu warned.