CONDEMNATION OF VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY KUSASI BANDITS
Our attention has been drawn to a violent situation on the evening of Tuesday, December 21st, 2021 in which Kusasi bandits burnt down a car belonging to Military Intelligence officers at a security checkpoint in Sabongari. These bandits also attempted to harm the security officers who we understand were clearly identified as security officers by the police officers at the checkpoint.
This violent action by the Kusasi youth comes just a day after elders of both Mamprusis and Kusasis at a meeting in Tamale at the instance of the Minister for National Security pledged to use peaceful means of resolving disagreements. The action of these kusasi youth is in direct contravention of the "use of non-violent means agreement" their elders committed to as if the meeting with the Minister for National Security at Tamale on 20th December 2021 meant nothing. We find this provocative development very troubling and we condemn it accordingly. We call on the law enforcement agencies to immediately identify the perpetrators of this heinous crime and bring them to book. We believe this impunity is partly emboldened because they have gotten away with such actions in the past and were never brought to justice. You will recall that most recently kusasi youth burnt a tractor belonging to a Mamprusi elder. This has been reported and we are yet to see any action taken in this regard.
At the said meeting in Tamale involving both Mamprusi and Kusasi Elders, the Minister for National Security stressed the need for elders of both sides to admonish their youth to desist from passing incendiary comments aimed at inciting violence especially on social media and traditional media.
We wish to draw the attention of the security agencies and the public to a warmongering post on Facebook by a popular Kusasi platform called "Kusasi Voice Association". In the said post related to the unfortunate incident in Sabongari, Kusasi Voice Association wrote “Youth in the Sabongari community upon intelligence have seized and set ablaze a car loaded with firearms, which was plying the Sabongari Bawku highway this evening. For the timely intervention of the police, the occupants of the vehicle were arrested. Kudos to the youth of Sabongari. Let’s continue to be each other’s keeper”. It is important to note that this post was put up immediately after the burning of the car by these Kusasi bandits. The "Kusasi Voice Association" platform praised the actions of the Kusasi youth and further congratulated their bandits for such a heinous crime.
It would appear that these youth and administrators of Kusasi Voice Association have either not listened to the appeal of the Minister for National Security or that their elders have failed to admonish them or that they have been admonished but have failed to pay heed to such admonition or their elders have rather urged them on.
The "Kusasi Voice Association" is a platform with verifiable administrators who do live sessions on Facebook with a large kusasi following. It is the same platform that is used for inciting and spreading hate against Mamprusis and in recent times other tribes like the Bissas.
We, therefore, draw the attention of the law enforcement agencies to the activities of Kusasi Voice Association and call on the security agencies to act swiftly by arresting the administrators of the "Kusasi Voice Association" for their inciting and warmongering activities which have the potential to destabilise the peace of Bawku.
We commend the Mamprusi youth for their continuous calm and peace-loving nature. We are grateful to our elders for conveying the message from the Minister for National Security and we pledge our continuous use of dialogue and non-violent means of resolving disputes. We encourage all other ethnic groups in Bawku to remain calm and pray that the security agencies will take hold of the situation and bring perpetrators of violence and those who incite it to book.
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