Bawku needs robust military presence -Lt Col. Ogboma

Bolgatanga, Nov. 21,GNA- Lieutenant Colonel Emeka Ogboma, a Lecturer at the Ghana Arms Forces Staff Training College has called for a robust military presence in Bawku to enforce peace in the troubled border town. The Lieutenant Colonel made the observation when lecturers and students from the college toured the Upper East as part of their academic field practicals and professional observation to brief Government on the status of its programmes and policies on the ground.

Lt. Col. Ogboma said it was very important for Government to review the methods in addressing the Bawku conflict, and stressed that the robust presence of the Military in the conflict zone would do the trick of curbing the situation.

He said it was rather unfortunate that people were just arrested and were not punished adding, the culprits even had the nerve to wear the security uniforms in carrying their nefarious activities. He emphasized that culprits of the conflict should be drastically punish to serve as a deterant to others or else people would continue flout the law with impunity.

He noted that the Bawku issue had very serious repercussions on the Region and the country as a whole as economic activities and other development activities had come to a standstill, saying there was pressure on every facet of life as a result of the conflict in some parts in the Region especially Bolgatanga, the Regional Capital.

Lt. Col. Ogboma appealed to government to give the Military a free hand to deal with the problem devoid of political or ethnic interferences. On their observations in the region, the Students said that the Region was endowed with many tourist sites but they had been left in individual hands and appealed to Regional Coordinating Council and the District Assemblies to get actively involved tourism to rake in income for the Region.

They also asked that the farmers in the Region should be provided with agriculture technology and adding, there were a lot of broken down agriculture machinery which should be repaired to enhance farming. On the Northern Star Tomato Factory, they suggested that it should be privatized to allow people including the farmers to have a share in it and said it should also be diversified for other crops including pepper to be processed there.

The Students of the Staff Training School stated that the region had gold deposits and suggested that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) should liaise with the Mineral Commission to legalize the operation of the gold mines to generate income for the people.

The Students of the Staff College also raised concern about the rice farm at the Fumbisi Valley in the Builsa South which was ready for harvesting but there were no combine harvester for the job and appealed to Government to help the farmers to harvest the crop. They also mentioned the inadequacy of health personnel in the Region and asked the RCC and the Regional Health Directorate to address the issue. The Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni, thanked visitors and said their findings would be critically looked into and indicated that the Regional RCC was already addressing some the issues raised.

She stated that in the area of health, the RCC and the District Assemblies would contribute to the training of students pursuing health programmes and would entrust it to the Regional Directorate of Health Service to implement the scheme to ensure that beneficiaries returned to serve in the Region.

The Leader of the Group, Naval Captain James O. Kontoh, who is also a Lecturer at the College, said the exercise was to empower the students to practice what they had learnt from the classrooms and to also give feedback to the Government on its policies and programmes to improve upon it. He noted that another batch of Students was touring the Ashanti, Eastern, Central Regions among others. The Students who were eight in number were from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Rwanda and Gambia are expected to complete their courses within one year. The four Lecturers who accompanied them were Naval Captain James O Kontoh, Lieutenant Colonel Jerome Aryeetey, Lieutenant Colonel John Obibah Kuseh and Lieutenant Colonel Emeka Ogboma. 21 Nov.09