The Bawku conflict, faceless Facebook accounts

Conflicts globally have similar precipitating causes depending on the sociocultural practices of the actors. The causes, however, remain amorphous to many people with little or no background in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

The effects of conflicts are so devastating and sometimes can ruin a whole society. One of such conflicts with debilitating effects on its inhabitants is the Bawku conflict.

Bawku was a very prosperous community with several ethnic groupings. These different ethnicities had lived in peace and harmony and intermarried, strengthening their bonds, until the pursuit for the ownership of the land arose between the Kusasis and the Mamprusis.

This feud which started shortly before Ghana’s independence resulted in some resolutions at the courts and also physical armed and violent confrontations. The town had enjoyed relative peace from 2008 until November 2021 when violence erupted again. Within this period of relative peace Bawku had regained its past glory as the economic hub of the Upper East Region.

The current situation in the town is so dire. Many people have been fleeing for their lives because of the periodic gun fires and indiscriminate killings in the area. Analysts have reckoned that the recent conflict is triggered largely by Facebook messages, audio recordings mostly by unidentified individuals and groups, and radio discussions.

Threats have also been made to people through these means. Examples of individuals from Bawku who have received death threats recently include; Adam Abdul Aziz a businessman, King Faisal Alhassan a nursing tutor, and Osman Dickson a teacher, three of whom have reported the case to the police in their respective workplaces.

The town has lost valuable human resources on this count. It is sad to note that people who may take neutral positions in this conflict and preach peace could be targeted as in the case of those mentioned above. Many people have been targeted and killed outside the boundaries of Bawku.

A true son of the land of Bawku will tell you, that the conflict over the years has brought nothing to the inhabitants except hard and excruciating pain to families. The once busy Presbyterian Hospital is now operating at less than 20% capacity; people from neighboring Burkina Faso and Togo flooded the hospital for medical care almost every day.

That does not happen today. Education is on its knees; trade is the most- hard hit as the majority of the people are traders. Every sphere of their daily lives keeps deteriorating.

The National Media Commission under whose umbrella the media operates must monitor every media station in Bawku to the letter. These media houses must operate within the framework of their regulations and the law if we must safeguard the fragile peace in Bawku and its surroundings.

A comprehensive and tactical approach to peacebuilding should be looked at to find permanent peace in the area rather than the ad hoc measures being adopted by the government. The issue at hand should be dealt with decisively without fear or favor and deliberately allowing the law to work and deal with miscreants and bandits who engage in acts that disturb the peace of the one-time economic hub. The government also needs to be proactive and take measures to stop the spillage of this conflict to other places in the country.