MILITARY PRESENCE IN BAWKU VITAL — LECTURER (PAGE 15, NOV 24)

There is the need for a robust military presence in Bawku to enforce peace in the violence-stricken municipality in the Upper East Region.
Lietenant Colonel Emeka Ogbanna, a lecturer at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College who made the call noted that, until such a decision is taken, the situation in the troubled border town would continue to deteriorate and the search for peace would remain elusive.
Lt Col Ogbonna made the observation during a meeting with the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni and some members of the Regional Security Council at Bolgatanga after a tour of the region by some lecturers and students of the college.
Four directing staff and eight students from the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College were in the region for a week’s study tour.
The tour formed part of the Senior Staff Course of the college, which is conducted yearly to help the students to collate views and suggestions from institutions as part of their academic programme.
Lt. Col. Ogbonna , a Nigerian, said the unending violence in Bawku, in spite of all the measures taken by the Government, was derailing development efforts of the municipality in particular and the region as a whole. He, therefore, appealed to the Government to renew the mandate of the military in the area to deal effectively with the conflict, irrespective of the opposition by human rights groups.
He emphasised that for a long time, combatants had acted with impunity and disregarded the right of innocent persons to live in peace and added that it was about time combatants in the conflict were dealt with drastically to serve as a deterrent to others.
He recounted a similar exercise in Nigeria, which helped to bring peace in one of the states after a similar insurrection.
The call by the military officer follows a similar one made by the Regional Minister and Chairman of Regional Security Council, Mr Mark Woyongo to the Government earlier this month, to declare a state of emergency in Bawku to enable the security agencies to deal with the situation there.
This was after Mr Woyongo and some members of REGSEC were forced to take cover and avoid being fired at by combatants during a recent altercation in the municipality.
The students from Ghana, Rwanda, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, observed that the conflict in Bawku was impacting negatively on the lives of the people and called for a prompt resolution to improve trade and socio-economic activity.
Whist commending the Government for the intervention made so far in the resolution of the conflict, they advocated the involvement of other paramount chiefs in the region in the conflict-resolution process.
On Agriculture, the students noticed a huge potential in the sector but bemoaned the lack of inputs and modern technology to move farming to a higher level.
They, therefore, suggested that farmers in the region should be provided with inputs such as tractors and water pumps, amongst others, to enhance farming.
They observed that the Northern Star Tomato Factory had a great potential and suggested that operations at the factory be diversified for other crops such as pepper to be processed there, and the production standards improved to attract private investment to assist farmers in the region.
They also supported the suggestion that farmers and other people be allowed to have shares in the factory.
The students bemoaned the inadequacy of health personnel in the region and asked the regional co-ordinating council and the Ghana Health Service to address the issue.
“From our tour, the doctor–patient ration was 1:16,000, whilst in the Builsa District, the ratio is 1: 81,000. This is unacceptable and poses a serious challenge”, one of the students observed.
They also raised concern about the rice farms at the Fumbisi Valley in the Builsa District where they said large tracts of rice fields were ready for harvesting but were being threatened by bush fires due to the absence of a combine harvester for the job. They appealed to the Government to help the farmers to harvest the crop.
Responding to some of the observations, Mrs Awuni said their findings would be critically looked into and indicated that the regional minister was already in Accra negotiating for a combine harvester for farmers to assist in harvesting the rice.
She also added that the RCC was already addressing some of the issues raised, including the lack of medical doctors and other allied health workers.
Naval Captain James Kontoh leader of the team, said findings from the tour, apart from fulfilling the academic requirements of the students would also be forwarded to the Government to serve as a feedback on its policies and programmes.
The two other lecturers who accompanied the team were Lt Col Irvine Aryeetey and Lt Col John Obibah Kusah.