Disaster Looms In Bawku If…A Rejoinder

I read with dismay the above titled article penned by Emmanuel Adu Gyamerah dated Friday November 27, 2009 on a looming disaster (blood bath) in Bawku if certain steps, outlined by the Chairman of REGSEC and Minister of the Upper East Region, Mr. Owen Mark Woyongo, are not taken .

Apart from bashing the media for insensitive reportage and lamenting the plight of the military detail in keeping the peace, I did not find any concrete measure being put in place by REGSEC to forestall peace in the area.

There is a core issue at stake as a result of which Mamprusis and Kusasis are fighting. It is surprising therefore that in presenting an Agenda which the REGSEC believes can bring peace to the conflict area, this core issue is relegated to the background. A lot has been written on the issue at stake and I will not dwell much on it but address the issues raised by the Minister who is also Chairman of REGSEC.

I agree that the public has a responsibility to help keep the morale of the security forces engaged in peace keeping activities. In fact the public is already doing this through the payment of various forms of taxes part of which is used to keep the peace. If for that matter REGSEC believes that the GHC 2.50 per day for each peace keeper is inadequate, they should take up measures to ensure that they are adequately remunerated.

There cannot be a bloodbath in Bawku simply because the media has condemned an act of barbarism committed by a few soldiers. It is the responsibility of government and particularly Mark Woyongo as regional Minister and Chairman of REGSEC to ensure that there is peace in Bawku; and that must be done within the constitution and laws of Ghana and the Geneva Convention.

Ghana has troops deployed in many missions across the world, some as old as 3 decades while others are as recent as Darfur in Somalia. The government has no excuse to be fed-up with Bawku so soon or complain of resources to ensure peace in the area. Ghana found resources to fund itself in ECOMOG operations and have no reason to abandon Bawku simply because of a public outcry against the misconduct of a few soldiers under the command of Capt. Frank Abrakwa.

This is not the first time I have heard or read about the regional minister and the interior minister talking about inadequate remuneration and appropriate housing and equipment for the peace keepers to help them keep the peace. The question however is this: If the Regional Minister and Interior Minister assume the role of complainants, whose responsibility is it then to ensure that the peace keepers are well remunerated and adequately equipped to keep the peace. It is regrettable that Mr. Mark Woyongo still refers to the brutality meted out to the two young civilians in Bawku as alleged maltreatment even though an unequivocal video is out clearly showing what the military put these suspects through. Instead of bowing his head in shame for first denying the incident, he is still courageous enough to call it alleged maltreatment.

The security agencies are trained to be professional, highly disciplined and to portray a good image for the country as they perform their respective services. That is why they have a strict code of conduct and an established means of dealing with deviance.

The stripping naked of the suspects was carried out by a small sector of the security agents in the conflict area and should have been dealt with as such. It was the failure or refusal of the authorities concerned to condemn the act in no uncertain terms and the blatant attempt to cover up the abuses that smeared the reputation of the military and not the public outcry following the release of a video of the incident.

If this had happened outside the borders of Ghana, the personnel involved would have been repatriated, investigated and made to face the full rigors of the law to ensure the good name of Ghana is preserved. What beats my mind is how he tried to justify the misconduct of the military by saying that the treatment meted out to these civilians was better than if they (the accused civilians) had succeeded in killing people. Anybody with the capacity of getting the nod for the position of a regional minister should know the difference between a suspect and a convict. The civilians in question for now are mere suspects and one would have expected the regional minister to wait for the outcome of the investigations and court decision on these two individuals before making such irresponsible statements.

If Mr. Woyongo is smart enough to state that “the media had a responsibility, through their reportage, to ensure the end of the war, instead of inflaming passions at the least opportunity”, then he should be smart enough to know what responsibility lies on him to make equally responsible statements that will not inflame passions on either side of the combatants.

Within the past few weeks a few in the military have gained notoriety for gross misconduct and their high command have often risen to their defense. With this track record, one wonders if indeed the military are not venting their frustrations over poor remuneration on these two suspects. What this calls for is for the politicians and authorities concerned to look into the plight of the military so that such frustrations are not vented out on residents of areas they are sent to keep the peace.

The Vice president, his Excellency John Dramani Mahama used the occasion of the just ended Eid to make known government’s intention to investigate the recent incidents. He also used the occasion to talk about Ghana’s military and how professional their track record is. He however failed to add that the few who were involved in the maltreatement of the suspects in Bawku will be investigated and the necessary action taken. I believe that punishing wrong doing is just as equal in keeping the good name of Ghana’s military just as awarding or heaping praises as and when they excel in their duties.

The first time the military came under severe bashing was the killing a Mamprusi by name Adam Kobilla under the command of the same Captain Frank Abrakwa. Again the high command was quick to deny the involvement of the military and even disputed the place where Adam was shot. For God’s sake this man was shot from the back in front of his family at his family home. Up till date, we are yet to hear what investigations have been instituted to ascertain the truth behind the killing of Adam Kobilla and to bring the perpetrators to book.

Mr. Woyongo’s firsthand account of the recent escalation of violence in Bawku should have taught him a lesson that a mere statement in the media advising both ends to give peace a chance is not the solution. His position as chairman of REGSEC gives him an opportunity and the power to make concrete recommendations on the roadmap to peace and ensure the institution of those recommendations. The truth is out there and Mr. Woyongo knows how to find it.

Wunpini Nurudeen

Nalerigu. 30-11-09

…WORRYING SIGNALS FROM MAMPRUGU: A REJOINDER Immediately following the article about looming disaster in Bawku is another article about worrying signals from Mamprugu. First of all let me explain what Mamprugu means and why it should not in the first place have appeared in the title of the piece. Even a common person on the streets of Northern Ghana knows the difference between Mamprusi and Mamprugu. For the education of Vincent Amenuveve and ACP Awuni, Mamprugu refers to the Kingdom while Mamprusi is a tribe. Mamprugu includes traditional areas like Kpasenpke, Wungu, Janga, Yunyoo-Bunkpurigu, Kurugu among others. Central Mamprusi whose princes can ascend to the Nayiri include Nalerigu, Gambaga, Gua-Bulga, Kparigu, S etcetera. ACPakoogo, Gbani and others. Are these the places Awuni is picking such worrying signals from? In the Upper East region, places such as Tongo, Bongo, Zuarungu, Sakote, Nangodi, Bolgatanga, all have traditional linkages to Mamprugu and are therefore part of the larger Mamprugu kingdom. As much as I would want to blame Vincent Amenuveve for such ignorance exposed in the above titled article I would also want to lay equal blame on the highly esteemed Daily Graphic for allowing such an article to be published not even on any other page of the paper but on the front page. To publish such an article is in itself a worrying signal about Daily Graphic’s role as media and how ACP Awuni intends to conduct himself as the Northern Regional Police Command. Is he saying for that matter that Mamprugu is a threat to security? Even though Vincent should have CROSSCHECKED (first lesson in journalism) his facts before rushing his article for publication, one cannot blame him a lot because the perpetuator of such ignorance is no mean a person than an Assistant commissioner of Police and command of the northern regional police force. He is an authority and should know better. It was this same ACP Awuni, even before investigations commenced, who rushed with so much eagerness and alacrity to relate the murder of the late PNC Member of Parliament in Nalerigu to the Bawku conflict even before investigations commenced. These are indeed worrying signals from the police command. Again, even before investigations begun into the alleged rape of some girls in Nalerigu by the military and police on peace keeping duties, this same ACP Awuni jumped into concluding that the youth “had also resorted to psychological tactics, leveling all manner of allegations against security personnel to create disaffection for them” These so called allegations are under investigation and one wonders if indeed ACP Awuni knows the responsibility that lies on him as a major player in this issue. The district chief executive of Gambaga spoke out against ACP Awuni’s allegation that some youth were mobilizing in the northern region to support their kinsmen involved in the intractable Bawku conflict. His pronouncements and conduct leaves much to be desired as an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Again Vincent Amenuveve could have used the basic journalistic principle of crosschecking, by simply picking up a phone and calling the people that matter before rushing in with such an article with the editor giving it such prominence in the front page. When the late Apusiga Kariyama, a Mamprusi and Ag, Director of Births and Deaths was ambushed at night and murdered in cold blood in Bolgatanga with his Motor bike taken away, no police commander called it a spillover of the Bawku conflict and no Police or Military deployment was sent there to harass residents in the name of keeping the peace. I am not sure what investigations have revealed so far about the murder. It is purported that his motorbike was later found but as to whether the police followed up to help in investigations is another matter. Indeed these are worrying signals. But worrying signals from places they should not be coming from….The Daily Graphic and the Northern Regional Police Command.

Wunpini Nurudeen

Nalerigu. 30-11-09