BAWKU CRISIS: HERE IS WHAT ALL GHANAIANS NEED TO KNOW
In the past couple of weeks, the beautiful Upper East town of Bawku has been in the news for bad reasons. Once again, violent conflict erupted between Kusaasis and Mamprusis. There was fierce gun battle resulting in the loss of several lives. There security had to be deployed at a huge cost to the state. Resources that could have been used for the development of the area, have had to be deployed for maintaining peace and order. Well-meaning Ghanaians across the country have expressed legitimate concern about the situation.
Giving the legitimate public concerns about the situation in Bawku, is important to let the people of Ghana know some basic facts about the issues in Bawku. Such basic facts will help the people of Ghana understand that the conflict in Bawku has been the result of criminal acts by some recalcitrant persons in the area and not a dispute over chieftaincy. This is because there cannot be a dispute over a chieftaincy position that is not in dispute.
Because this piece is aimed at aiding all Ghanaians (especially those who are not familiar with Bawku and the crisis) to have a better insight into the Bawku crisis, it is important to start with a simple and basic information about the local, traditional geopolitics of Bawku.
Bawku is the capital of the Kusaug Traditional Area (KTA). The KTA covers six political districts and six constituencies. The Constituencies are Zebila Constituency, Binduri Constituency, Bawku Central Constituency, Pusiga Constituency, Garu Constituency and Timpane Constituency.
All the six districts and constituencies that make up the KTA are populated predominantly by the indigenous Kusaasi people. Indeed, the Kusaasis constitute the biggest single ethic group in the whole of the Upper East region. People have argued that per their sheer size, it is not surprising that all the three Ministers from the Upper East region in the current government (the regional Minister, Hon Stephen Yakubu; Deputy Works and Housing Minster, Hon. Abanga Abdulai; and Deputy Information Minster, Hon. Fati Abubakari), are all Kusaasis.
The dominance of the Kusaasis in all the six districts and constituencies that make up the KTA is also clearly evidenced by the following three undisputable facts:
1. Kusaasal (the language of the Kusaasis) is the dominant and main language spoken in all the six districts and constituencies.
2. Due to their large population and dominance of the area, persons elected as Members of Parliament (MPs) from the six constituencies are often Kusaasis or persons with strong links or bonding with the Kusaasis. The current parliament for example, has the following:
• Zebila Constituency – Hon. Cletus Avoka, a Kusaasi
• Binduri Constituency – Hon. Abanga Abdulai, a Kusaasi
• Bawku Central Constituency – Hon. Mahama Ayariga, a Kusaasi
• Garu Constituency – Hon. Albert Alazuga, a Kusaasi
• Timpane Constituency – Hon. Lydia Adakugu, a Builsa who became the NDC’s parliamentary candidate for the 2020 elections following the sudden death of her Kusaasi husband, Hon. David Adakudugu, who was until his death, the NDC’s candidate for constituency
• Pusiga Constituency – Hon. Lardi Ayamga, a Yaanga, whose husband is a Kusaasi.
3. The chiefs in all the district capitals of Zebila, Binduri, Pusiga, Garu and Timpane and all sub-chiefs in all communities in these districts are all Kusaasis.
Despite all these, a small group of Mamprusi settlers in Bawku, capital of the KTA, have for decades, been fighting that the Chief of Bawku who doubles as the overlord and King of all the Kusaasis, has to be a Mamprusi. They contend that such a Mamprusi chief of Bawku will have to be enskinned by the Nayiri, the overload of the Mamprusis who is based in Nalerigu in the North East region.
In other words, the contention of the settler Mamprusis in Bawku is that, Kusaasis cannot or should not have their own King or overlord who is a Kusaasi. For them, a Mamprusi man has to be the King of the Kusaasis.
The basis of the claim of the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku is that, in the colonial days, they had a centralised form of chieftaincy and were brought to Bawku to become chiefs over the Kusaasis in order to represent the colonial masters. Based on this, they argue that they have a history and legacy of being the chiefs over the Kusaasis, which must continue. They further contend that those days, successive Mamprusi Chiefs in Bawku were all enskinned by the Nayiri in Nalerigu, and so they are entitled to the Bawku skin even after the end of colonial rule.
The Kusaasis’ Claims, the facts and the burning questions
The Kusaasis, who are historically known to be non-violent and peaceful people, have on the other hand asserted that, indeed there was a time when the Mamprusis settlers in Bawku were imposed on them as chiefs by the colonialists. The Kusaasis contend that, that imposition was an act of injustice and just as colonial rule gave way to self-rule in Ghana and Africa, colonial-imposed chieftaincy had to give way to self-determined chieftaincy.
The Kusaasis have argued that nowhere in modern Ghana will you find a king or overlord of a Traditional area coming from a different ethnic group other than the one to which he is the overlord or King.
For example, an Asante man cannot become the king or overlord of the Ewes and an Ewe man cannot become the overlord of the Gas. The overlord of the Gonjas in the Gonja capital of Damango, is a Gonja. The overlord of the Dagombas in the Dagbon capital of Yendi, is a Dagomba. The overlord of the Mamprusis in the Mamprugu capital of Nalerigu, is a Mamprusi. So how can the overlord of the Kusaasis in the Kusaug capital of Bawku, not be a Kusaasi but a Mamprusi?
Apart from the above commonsensical fact, the following nine additional set of facts should make it clear to all Ghanaians that the Mamprusis in Bawku are just troublemakers in Bawku who are perpetually undermining the potential for development in Bawku. The additional set of facts below will also help clear any doubts about the rights and legitimacy of the Kusaasis as the rightful custodians of the Bawku skin and the legitimacy of the current Bawku Naba for that matter.
1. As far back as in 1957, a committee of enquiry was set up by then Governor General, Lord Listowel, to enquire into the claim of Abugrago Azoka I (father of the current Bawku Naba) that he was validly selected and enskinned as the legitimate chief of Bawku. The Committee was made up of three eminent persons; Lawyer S.D. Opoku Afari; the then Domaahene, Nana Agyeman Badu; and the then Tumukoro, Lori Kanton. At the end of thorough deliberations, the Committee gave its verdict in favour of the Kusasis and affirmed the claim by Abugrago Azoka I. The Mamprusi settlers in Bawku, refused to abide by the decision of the Committee.
2. In 1958, the Court of Appeal (the highest court in Ghana at the time) upheld the findings of the Opoku Afari Committee in favour of the Kusasis. Again, the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku refused to abide by the decision of the court and continued to torment the lives of innocent people in Bawku.
3. In April 2003, the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku filed a case at the Supreme Court of Ghana to challenge the legitimacy of the current Bawku Naba, Zugraan Abugrago Azoka II. Before the case could be heard fully, the Mamprusis, suffocating under the massive weight of cogent evidence marshalled by the Kusaasis in defence, applied to the Supreme Court to withdraw their case. The Supreme Court granted their request to withdraw their case but on condition that they have no liberty to reapply to the Supreme Court on the same matter under articles 270 and 277 of the 1992 constitution. Lawyers from the law firm of the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, served as lawyers for the Mamprusis in the case. After withdrawing their case from the Supreme Court without liberty to return to the Court on the matter of Bawku Cheiftancy, the Mamprusis settlers in Bawku continued to insist that a Mamprusi man has to be the overlord over the Kusaasis. They then continued with their routine acts of anarchy in Bawku.
4. In 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo, visited the Bawku Naba, Zugraana Abugrago Azoka. During that visit, the President, whose law firm represented the Bawku Mamprusi settlers in the 2003 Supreme Court case, openly and publicly indicated that there was no dispute as to who is the legitimate chief of Bawku. The President unequivocally stated that the current Bawku Naba and overlord of the KTA, Zugraan Abugrago Azoka II, is the legitimate chief of Bawku. The Mamprusi settlers in Bawku disagreed with their former lawyer, the President. They then persisted in their periodic acts of violence.
5. In June 2021, President Akufo-Addo again called on the Bawku Naba on the assumption of his second term in office as President of the Republic. During this second visit, the President reiterated his position that as far as he was concerned, the Bawku Naba and overlord of the KTA, Zugraan Abugrago Azoka II, was and remained the legitimate chief of Bawku and overlord of the KTA. Yet again, the Mamprusis opposed the position of their former lawyer and current President of the Republic.
6. In December 2021, the Republic secured an injunction in the Circuit Court in Bawku, restraining the Mamprusis from performing a purported funeral of their late supposed chief of Bawku who died over 40 years ago. Unsurprisingly and characteristic of their defiant and anarchic nature, the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku disregarded the orders of the court and went ahead to perform the purported funeral for the supposed late Chief of Bawku.
7. During the recent annual Samanpiid Festival of the Kusaasi people held in Bawku on December 29, 2021, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Ebenezer Kojo Kum, also made it clear that, there was no dispute as to who the legitimate Bawku Naba is. The Chieftaincy Minister said, “claims that Bawku did not have an overlord and attempts to install a new Bawku Naba ran contrary to the already determined position by the Supreme Court on the matter.” He continued that “the status of the Paramount Chief of Bawku has been settled by the Supreme Court of Ghana in the celebrated case in April, 2003. The Chieftaincy Minister then emphasised that, “indeed, the judgements of the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land are meant to be complied with and not subject to the opinions of any individuals or group to pick and choose whether to abide by the judgments or not.” But as usual, the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku said the Minister was wrong. They went on to verbally abuse the Minister in press statements and media interviews.
8. In January 2022, the Minister for the interior, Hon. Ambrose Derry, stated in an interview with Joy News that there is no contestation over Bawku Chieftaincy. He emphasised that the current Bawku Naba and overlord of the KTA, is the legitimate occupant of the Bawku Skin. The Mamprusi settlers in Bawku condemned the interior Minister with vituperative words.
9. In a recent statement by the Member Parliament for Bawku Central, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, he revealed what he had told leaders of the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku during his time as a Minister under the President John Atta Mills government that matters of Bawku Cheiftancy had been settled. Hon. Ayariga wrote: “I had advised my grandfather and uncles who made up the Mamprusi delegation that was going to meet President Atta Mills that no government could ever reverse the constitutional arrangement which affirms the status of Abugrago Azoka II as the overlord of the Kusasi Traditional Area. Given my expertise in constitutional law, I also told them that the courts will not review the status quo. I also made it clear at that time that the Kusasis will never accept another ethnic group lording over them on their own land and so there was neither a feasible legal, political or violent option available. The Chieftaincy matter in Kusasi land is settled forever.” From their recent actions that led to the recent conflict, it is clear that the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku had refused to heed to the advice of their nephew who was a Minister then.
The situation and action of intransigence of the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku, can only lead one to ask the following burning questions:
1. It is not curious that statutory committees, the Courts and political leaders (including the President who is a former lawyer of the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku) will all conclude that the Bawku Mamprusis are wrong and the Kusaasis are right in seeking to govern themselves on their own land? Are all these institutions and personalities biased against the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku? If so, why?
2. Is it not surprising that the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku continue to resort to violence despite all the evidence against their quest to be the occupants of the Bawku skin?
3. Is it not surprising for the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku to think that a Mamprusi should be made the overlord or King of Kusaasis on Kusaasi land?
4. If a Mamprusi were to be the overlord of the Kusaasis, in what language will he be addressing his subjects in Kusaasug? He will be addressing them in Kusaal or Mampruli?
5. Why have the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku refused to challenge the Bawku Naba through the peaceful process of going to Court?
At this stage, things must be clear to all Ghanaians. Having realised that they have no basis for seeking legal redress in Court and that all other doors of civil recourse have been shut on them, the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku have decided to perpetually resort to guns and violence to seek to eternally destabilise and destroy Bawku.
It’s time for all Ghanaians to tell the Mamprusi settlers in Bawku that enough is enough. Just as a Kusaasi man cannot be the King of Mamprusis in the Mamprugu capital of Nalerigu, a Mamprusi man cannot be the King of Kusaasis in the Kusaug capital of Bawku. The Mamprusi settlers in Bawku must allow peace to prevail in Bawku!
By Sulemana Awinbon