The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has stressed that the outcomes of the Bawku Peace Mediation report should be binding on all parties, describing the process as a fact-finding effort aimed solely at restoring lasting peace, not assigning blame.

Presenting the report to President John Mahama at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, December 16, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stated that his role was not to arbitrate or pronounce judgment, but to facilitate a traditional mediation whose findings should guide national action toward peace.

“We present the report for your kind consideration, whatever action you and your government consider appropriate,” the Asantehene said.

“There’s nothing more grievous than the peace and security of the land. Like I said, it was a mediation. It wasn’t an arbitration, and I’m not here to say that this one was wrong or this one was right. I’ll present the facts as they are, and that's what it should be, binding on all of us.”

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Otumfuo Osei Tutu II explained that successive governments had previously attempted to resolve the Bawku conflict through political and legal means, without achieving lasting peace.

He noted that court rulings on the matter had often been disregarded whenever outcomes did not favour one side or the other.

“At the commencement of the hostilities, the government of former President Akufo-Addo issued a statement on the legal position.

"Both President Akufo-Addo and now President John Dramani Mahama came to the conclusion that historically, governments have intervened without lasting peace, and that court pronouncements have not been respected by either side if they went against them.”

As a result, the Asantehene said both administrations, representing Ghana’s two main political traditions, agreed on the need for a traditional mediation process, with outcomes that would be respected and enforced irrespective of changes in government.

“Both governments took the position that I should define a solution to the Bawku situation using mediation, and that my recommendations or conclusions shall be enforced by both governments at all times as a traditional solution to the problem,” he said.

The report is the culmination of months of mediation led by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, whose role has been central to the broader national reconciliation agenda aimed at resolving the long-standing tensions in the area.

The presentation of the report is expected to guide the next phase of government action toward achieving sustainable peace in Bawku.