Security analyst, Col Festus Aboagye has called on President Akufo-Addo to intervene in the ongoing chieftaincy conflict in Bawku.

Speaking on Newsfile, Col Aboagye stated that the President through conflict resolution can help the parties involved calm down and resolve their issues.

He explained that leaders in the past played a role by ensuring that issues were resolved amicably.

“Former President Kufour and Vice President Mahama played a role and within the same year, late President Atta Mills travelled to Bolga to meet the parties,” he said.

Col Aboagye added, "I will suggest that the President seize this opportunity to travel to the area, to try and get the parties to tone down because all the rhetoric that are going on are not helpful.”

The security analyst stated that these conflicts cannot be resolved through the use of force.

“At the end of the day, we need to sit around the table with the parties and facilitate mediation. The government being the central authority must use other institutions within the state and get the parties to sit around the table and talk,” he added.

The Overlord of Mamprugu, Naa Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga on Wednesday, 15th February, 2023, enskinned Seidu Abagre Kulugu as Chief of Bawku. The enskinment ceremony was done at Nayiri’s Palace in Nalerigu.

In response, the government condemned the purported enskinment, adding that it was illegal and a threat to national security.

The government further reiterated that Naba Asigri Abugrago Azorka II was the Bawku Naba who has been duly gazetted and is a member of the National and Upper East Regional Houses of Chiefs.

A statement signed and issued by the Information Minister said the security agencies had been directed to arrest and prosecute any other person who holds himself out as Bawku Naba.

However, the North East Regional Security Council rejected the government’s directive to arrest and prosecute persons involved in the purported enskinment of a new Bawku Naba in Nalerigu.

The North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakari, in a meeting with the Mamprugu Overlord on Friday, explained that the Regional Security Council believes any arrest within the jurisdiction of the North-East Region would be counterproductive.

Meanwhile, Col. Aboagye has recommended that the public should desist from labelling any of the parties involved in the chieftaincy dispute although some of their activities might be “criminal.”

He explained that the parties need listening ears as their actions are informed deeply by their belief, stressing that their explanations should not be “rubbished.”