Bawku Central NPP blames Akufo-Addo for escalating conflict

The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bawku Central Constituency has expressed utmost disappointment over how government is handling the Bawku chieftaincy dispute.

According to the constituency executives, polling station executives and electoral area coordinators, the conflict is making the party unpopular in Bawku and the Upper East Region in general.

Led by the Constituency Chairman, the executives added their voices to the call for peace but in a twist directing blame on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and other government officials on the increasing tension in the area.

At a press conference at the party’s office in Bawku, the Communication Officer, Nurudeen Gumah, said members of the party are of different tribes within the traditional area and, so, the party does not encourage divisive tribalism.

But, he notes, the chieftaincy dispute has affected members of the party, thus making the party unpopular.

The executives, therefore, appealed to the feuding groups to put the guns down and resort to the appropriate channel for redress.

They noted that since the conflict resurfaced in November, non-Mamprusis have been the hardest-hit casualties simply because they are perceived to belong to the NPP yet the leadership of the party, both at the regional and national level, did not respond on that issue.

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“Members of our party who are Non-Mamprusis were killed simply because they were affiliated to the party, notably Mma Laale, Obesery and many others who are polling station executives and party sympathisers. The party leadership at the regional and national did not respond on that too.”

The pointed out that some people are taking advantage of the conflict to ruin the presidential ambitions of the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, by dragging his name into the Bawku conflict.

“We would like to condemn all those trying to ruin the presidential ambition of His Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, by dragging his good name into the Bawku chieftaincy matter.

“Chieftaincy issues are purely traditional and not political, so we entreat all and sundry to leave that to the traditional authorities,” they added.

According the party, President Akufo-Addo got more votes from Bawku Central Constituency mainly from the Mamprusi-dominated areas to become president and they expected him to have handled the situation well, which would have prevented more deaths.

“It’s a known fact that majority of the votes the party gets in Bawku is coming from the Mamprusis and their sympathisers in the Bawku township and beyond. In 2020 general elections, we gave Nana Akufo-Addo more that 20,000 votes to win the election, and out of this number, the Mamprusis gave the party more than 18,000 votes.

“We want to request the national executives to tell His Excellency that his posture towards the chieftaincy dispute is hurting the party at the constituency, considering the fact that majority of the people in Bawku who voted to make him president are Mamprusis and a party to the chieftaincy dispute.

“We want to find out whether it’s because he will be leaving office very soon, that he doesn’t care about the fortunes of the party any longer? We appeal to him to treat the chieftaincy dispute as a pure traditional matter and refer the matter to eminent traditional authorities to handle it rather than making pronouncements on it.”

Source:3news.com