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Former President John Dramani Mahama has assured the people of Bawku in the Upper East region that peace will be restored if he wins this year’s elections to be president again.
He recounted that Bawku was peaceful at the time that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in power because adequate security measures were put in place.
The flagbearer of the NDC said these while speaking with the Upper East regional House of Chiefs in Bolgatanga on Friday February 2.
He said “It is unfortunate that this has reared its ugly head again. The time we were in office we had virtually calmed things, Bawku was a thriving community again, and people were going about their business without fear of being harmed. Unfortunately, now you cannot roam freely in Bawku. Just recently I was reading that they had put a ban on motorcycles again in the evening and generally, it is a period of insecurity for the people living in that area. In the night buses are fired upon and people are killed.
“These are things that we are going to make a priority when we come into office, we have done it before, we will do it again, and we will work hard to resolve the Bawku crisis and bring peace back to Bawku and surrounding areas.”
He added “The second aspect of the insecurity is the armed robbery. Armed robbery has become a major problem here and it is affecting the economy of the Upper East region. You go to market, and you are coming back and armed robbers set on you, they rob the people. We are going to mount a very strong fight against armed robbery, because you cannot have economic progress in an environment of insecurity and so it is imperative that we make sure our region is safe and secure so people will go about their business without fear of being harmed or killed.”
Recently, unknown gunmen fired into a group of people at the community center in Bawku on Wednesday, January 17, resulting in the death of two persons, while four others were injured.
The lawmaker for the area Mahama Ayariga described the situation as dastardly and unacceptable.
Mr Ayariga called on law enforcement agencies to act immediately to arrest and deal with the perpetrators.
Commenting on this matter on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Thursday, January 19 with Alfred Ocansey, Mr Ayariga said “It is unfortunate that we continue to experience this situation that has caused so many lives to be lost, so many people to be injured and hospitalized and so much property to be lost in Bawku central constituency.
“…those who were killed yesterday, that was dastardly, that was unacceptable and the perpetrators must be searched for by the law enforcement agencies and dealt with.”
The Minister for the Interior, by Executive Instrument, renewed the curfew hours imposed on Bawku Municipality and its environs in the Upper East Region from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am effective Friday, January 12, 2024.
The government called on Chiefs, Elders, Opinion Leaders, Youth and people of the area to exercise restraint in the face of the challenges confronting them as well as to use non-violent means to channel their energies into ensuring peace.
Meanwhile, there is a total ban on all persons in the afore-mentioned communities and their environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapon and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted.
By Laud Nartey
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