Spokesperson for the Mamprugu Youth Association, Dr Issah Imoro
The Mamprugu Youth Association has advised the government to apply every diplomatic and peaceful approach to the issue between the Mamprusis and Kusasis in the Bawku conflict.
The Mamprugu group urged the government to abandon the use of brutal force in addressing the conflict involving the Indigenous People.
The group alleged that countless innocent lives, including those of police officers and youths, have been lost in the area.
However, the group vowed that no amount of intimidation or killings by security agents can subdue the passion and courage of Mamprugu youths in their quest for peaceful restoration.
The group called on all Kusasi groups to maintain a peaceful approach in bringing lasting peace.
The group also described the conduct of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, in Bawku as a grave error in judgment, which, in their view, exposes the advice he might have received prior to his visit to Bawku.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Accra, the spokesperson for the Mamprugu Youth Association, Dr. Issah Imoro, stated that the conflict between the two ethnic groups should be settled without political or external interference.
He cautioned that any attempt to arrest Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre would be resisted, as it would amount to injustice, contempt of court, a violation of binding court rulings, and a breach of his fundamental human rights.
Imoro mentioned that while the Mamprugu youth recognize the inherent right of every community to pursue its economic activities in safety, the creation of a parallel market by the Kusasi people has not been helpful. Elements within the Kusasi youth have engaged in acts of intimidation and coercion, with the intent to deny others access to the Kusasi market, wrongly tagging them as Mamprusis and their allies.
“Disturbingly, this aggression has extended beyond ethnic profiling to levels that can best be described as domestic terrorism. These same Kusasi youth have forcibly prevented their own Kusasi kin, members of other ethnic groups, and international traders, particularly from Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo, from accessing the established Bawku central market, which provides revenue to the state.”
The Mamprugu Youth Association believes a lasting solution can be achieved through collaboration and further stated, “We call on the media and all stakeholders to desist from lumping all Bawku youth into these acts of terrorism committed by the Kusasi youth. The facts show that it is the Kusasi youth who are engaged in these acts of violence against the state, and they have actually publicly accepted this fact.”
