UPPER EAST REGSEC CALLS FOR BOUNDARY DISPUTE COMMITTEE (PAGE 14, DEC 15)

The Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has proposed the setting up of a joint security committee, comprising officials from Ghana and Burkina Faso, to investigate the recent altercation between natives of the two countries.
Last month, a violent confrontation between natives of the two countries at Mognori led to the death of two Ghanaians.
According to the REGSEC, the final resolution of the matter would help restore and strengthen the traditionally cordial relations between the two countries.
The Upper East Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC, Mr Mark Woyongo, made the proposal at a meeting between officials of Ghana and Burkina Faso in Bawku on Saturday following the misunderstanding that broke out two weeks ago.
Present at the meeting were members of the Bawku Municipal Security Committee, led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Musah Abdulai, and a 16- member delegation from Burkina Faso.
Last month, a group of Ghanaians from Bawku, led by one Moro, now at large, stormed the Burkina Faso side of Mognori, a border town, and allegedly started firing gunshots and threatening the peace of the area following an altercation with a Burkinabe over an unpaid toll.
According to reports, the Ghanaians, who were in eight in number, were overpowered and allegedly chased out. Luck, however, ran out for two of them, who were allegedly beaten and killed.
It took the personal involvement of the regional minister, who phoned his counterpart in the Central East Province of Burkina Faso, Mr Simeon Sawadogo, to negotiate the release of the deceased for burial in Ghana.
The deceased were identified as Gilla Issaka, 30, and Abdul Wahab Yussif, 27, both Bisas, and they have since been buried.
The 16-member Burkinabe delegation from the Central East Province was led by the High Commissioner (Haute Commissaire) to the Governor, Mr Pierre Bicaba. Other members included the Prefet de Bittou (District Chief Executive) of the area where the incident occurred, Mr Koudougou Hamidu, and the Chief of the Burkina Faso side of Mognori, Zampalige Boureima.
They were in Bawku to express their sympathies to the bereaved families, as well as the authorities of the region over the unfortunate incident.
According to Mr Bicaba, Burkina Faso and Ghana shared a long-standing bond of friendship and the unfortunate incident of November 27, 2009 should not mar the fruitful relations between the two countries.
Mr Mark Woyongo, for his part, said his administration had taken a serious view of the unfortunate incident and that everything possible would be done to bring the perpetrators to book.
He encouraged the people on the other side of the border to provide the security agencies on the Ghanaian side with information that would lead to the apprehension and prosecution of those who perpetrated the crime.
“We are concerned about that incident because it could have damaged the relationship between us and your country. We are determined to bring the perpetrators to book, but we are handicapped in the sense that we haven’t got enough information to be able to pursue the perpetrators, who are now at large. I am sure people on your side know the people who were involved. Once you are ready to assist us with the identity of those involved, we will arrest them and prosecute them,” he intimated.
Mr Woyongo thereafter proposed the setting up of a joint committee by both countries to investigate the incident and asked the Burkinabe delegation to work closely with the committee to unravel the persons behind the crime.
The delegation later called on the Paramount Chief of the Bawku Traditional Area, Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II.
They impressed on the Bawku Naba to urge his subjects to exercise restraint so that what happened did not escalate and mar the good relations between the two countries.
Naba Azoka expressed regret at the unfortunate incident and said people of the two communities were one people and so what happened should not have occurred.