A lecturer at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Dr. Victor Doke, has suggested that in order to restore calm to the Bawku enclave, the rival chief of the area, Alhaji Naa Seidu Haruna, should be removed from the area.

Discussing the conflict and how to address it on Joy News’ Newsfile on Saturday, 2nd November 2024, with Samson Lardy Anyenini, the security expert stated, “What are we actually hoping to achieve? Peace in Bawku. So for the right thing to be done, let’s get him out of the area first of all for calm to be restored, and then we can progress to see from where we stopped.”

Dr Doke also attributed the conflict to the influence of partisan politics and urged the government to consider an urgent approach that would restore peace in the area.

However, the spokesperson for the Mamprusis tribe, Dauda Jawara Salifu, opposed the idea, stating that Alhaji Seidu is legitimate for the throne. “You cannot exile someone, a Ghanaian, and say, ‘Don’t come back to your hometown,’ because if you come back to your hometown, there will be upheavals and bloodshed. Unfortunately, that is the statement made by our Kusasi brothers,” he responded to the proposal to expel the rival chief from the area.

He further opined, “I thought they would exercise restraint and allow the legal processes to take their course.”

In recent escalations of the conflict in the Bawku area, 19 lives have been lost. The longstanding chieftaincy dispute is between the Mamprusis and the Kusasis of the Bawku area in the Upper East Region of the country.