President Kufuor Intervenes In Bawku Crisis

President Kufuor has personally intervened in the Bawku crisis. The president will be meeting with the Bawku Naba and the elders of the Kussasis at the Castle on Thursday, March 13, 2008, in Accra. The Interior Minister, Mr. Kwamena Bartels announced this on Wednesday in Parliament. He said the president will be discussing with the elders the way forward in a bid to find lasting peace to the area. The two dominant ethnic groups in Bawku, the Mamprusis and the Kusassis have engaged in a bloody chieftaincy clash since New Year eve. The violence has claimed many lives and properties. The situation compelled the Interior Ministry to impose a curfew on the Bawku Municipality and its environs which has been reviewed depending on the situation at any given time. The latest review of the curfew came on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 following an escalation of the violence that led to the death of two persons. The curfew now starts from 3 pm to 7 am daily. But the Members of Parliament from the area have appealed to the government to review the curfew hours saying the current time was quite harsh. The MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga said the burning of houses was done during the curfew hours, making the imposition of a stiffer curfew hours unjustifiable. A security expert, Mr. Emmanuel Bombande who also hails from the area said the president’s intervention was commendable and timely. He said since other interventions had failed it was prudent that the president was intervening at the executive level. Some NDC MPs had called on the president to intervene in the crisis.