UNEASY CALM IN BAWKU...Banks remain closed but brisk activity at market (LEAD STORY)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku

AN uneasy calm is currently prevailing in Bawku after fresh fighting erupted in the town last Sunday.
A visit to the town yesterday revealed that life was steadily bouncing back, as people could be seen going about their businesses amidst tight security.
At the main Bawku Central Market, business was taking place, but while a few shops within town had opened for business, others remained closed.
The offices of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Barclays Bank, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), as well as Ghana Post, the Social Security and the National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), however, remained closed.
Bank customers with ATM cards were seen withdrawing money from the cash dispenser at the Barclays Bank.
At the forecourt of the Bawku Community Centre, where a temporary lorry station has been established, brisk activities were going on.
These included trading, but some people were seen boarding vehicles, apparently in their bid to flee the area.
In an interview, some of the residents complained about the rising cost of living as a result of the conflict.
The Bawku Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Abdulai Abanga, said he had been taken aback by the latest developments, especially coming after several efforts to bring peace to the area.
Mr Abanga said Bawku had been on the verge of attaining total peace when the last incident occurred.
“After the meeting between the President and the chiefs of the two feuding sides and the intensification of peace efforts at the local level, we were all very hopeful that peace was gradually returning, only to be hit hard by this latest development,” he said.
He described the killing of Alhaji Karim Oga as a big blow, saying that the late Alhaji Karim was one of the moderates who had been very helpful in terms of advising the youth on the need to keep peace in the area .
Meanwhile, the Bawku Traditional Council has expressed confidence in the wise counsel of President Kufuor after his meeting with all the factions in the Bawku conflict in March this year.
It, however, appealed to the government to issue a public statement on its official position on the issue.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, the Paramount Chief of the Bawku Traditional Area, Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka, said the traditional council anticipated a firm action on those supporting, misleading or encouraging the acts of terrorism and banditry before they got out of hand.
According to the chief, “our own patience has a limit”, and added in an angry tone, “If the Mamprusis in Bawku will give us no peace, then we will call on them to move away from our land to where they came from, Mamprugu. This land of ours is Kusaug and we will never yield to intimidation to surrender it to the Mamprusis.”
The Bawku Naba said the British colonialist extended Mamprusi rule to his land and modified it at various stages, culminating in the granting of full self-rule to Kusasis in 1957.
“If the timing co-incided with the attainment of Ghana’s independence in the same year, this cannot be blamed on the personality of the late President Nkrumah or his CPP, as the Mamprusis keep on alleging without valid proof. We have won our case through the due process of the law and that ends it,” Naba Azoka said.
He also called on leaders of political parties to refrain from giving recognition to the leaders of the Mamprusis, whom they treated as if they were also chiefs in Bawku and were at par with the Bawku Naba.
“When they visit Bawku and pay courtesy calls on the Bawku Naba, they do the same to a so-called Mamprusi regent.
We will have nothing to complain about if they call on a party chairman belonging to any ethnic group in Bawku, whether Mamprusi, Bissa, Moshie, Hausa or Dagomba, all of whom are sizeable minorities in the Bawku municipality and beyond,” he explained.
He said that attitude on the part of politicians could be the result of ignorance of the local situation and the implication of their actions.
According to him, the current Bawku situation certainly served as a test case of fair play and the rule of law in Ghana.
Naba Azoka commended the government for the efforts made so far in ensuring peace in the area and pledged his support to peace efforts in the area.