Conflict and Security Analyst Colonel Festus Aboagye (Rtd)has raised concern about the government’s approach in the wake of the Bawku chieftaincy issue following the enskinment of a new Bawku chief.

Speaking on Newsfile, he said that the state ought to have known that there were preparations to enskin a new Bawku chief and devise plans to resolve the situation.

“I find it very difficult to admit that the government knew about the decision to install a new Bawku Naaba so late that the only course of action by government was to fly a helicopter there to invite him on the 15th – that’s the Nayiri to come to Accra. You and I know it wasn’t going to work,” he said.

He explained further that government should have anticipated that the enskinment of another chief would exacerbate the current chieftaincy issue in Bawku.

The retired colonel said that prior knowledge would have aided the government to deploy security forces to stop the enskinment process.

During the early hours of Wednesday, February 15, the overlord of the Mamprugu traditional area, Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sherigah II, enskinned a new Chief for Bawku, as an attempt to restore order in Bawku since a lot of conflicts have erupted in the area since late January.

But government upon hearing this incident issued a statement that publically rejected the enskinment of the new Chief and deemed the action as illegal and a threat to national security.

In the statement issued by the Information Ministry on February 15, it was disclosed that directives had been given to security personnel to arrest and prosecute anyone posing as a Bawku Naba other than the legally recognised chief.

However, the North East Regional Security Council rejected the government’s directive to arrest and prosecute persons involved in the purported enskinment.

The North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakari, in a meeting with the Mamprugu Overlord on Friday, explained that the Regional Security Council has refused to arrest and prosecute those involved in the enskinment process.

This, he said was because the Regional Security Council believes any arrest within the jurisdiction of the Northeast 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, adding that their explanations should not be “rubbished.”