Bolgatanga, May 28 GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday said the Bawku conflict has thwarted the plans of Government to develop the area and open it up to investors. He reiterated his plea for peace saying, "Bawku is a town that has great potential, and is ready for development, with so many young people ready to work and be in gainful employment, such potential should not be wasted".

President Mills said this when he met with opinion leaders of Bawku Mamprusis in Bolgatanga on the second day of his visit to the Upper East Region. The President had met Bawku Naba Abugrago Azoka II and leaders of the Kusasis on Wednesday. President Mills noted that the situation in Bawku was not pleasing to anybody as both factions in the conflict were attesting, especially with the limited freedom of movement and having to be under curfew for the past one year.

He said even though the Government had a responsibility to maintain peace in Bawku, finding a lasting solution to the conflict depended very much on the two ethnic groups, and called on the elders to consider the future of the youth in the area and to speed up the peace process. He said it was time to embark on a fresh journey to build the country and everybody was needed for that and there should be no time to waste on unproductive ventures.

President Mills was emphatic on lawlessness, saying that anyone who broke the law would be dealt with according to the law. He stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was just and sought to do things objectively without taking sides. "The NDC is on the side of peace; stability; tranquillity and development. We are in a quest to build Ghana and we would, therefore, not take sides on any issue".

Alhaji Bugri S. Akalifa, an Elder of the Mamprusis, stated that the Government and many others had shown interest in finding peace for Bawku and urged all, who undertook any research on the conflict to present their true findings to the Government so that it would help to bring a solution.

He said the problem emanated from the chieftaincy dispute of many years ago and urged President Mills to study the document on the chieftaincy issue that would have the true information and also get the two sides in the conflict to tell the truth about what they knew. He said that if the people of Bawku had humbled themselves and listened to the many pleas from Government to stop the violence, there would have been peace in Bawku.

He complained that for the past two years, some Mamprusi farmers, who had been cultivating farmlands belonging to Kusasis had been denied access to such lands, and appealed to the President to intervene so that the affected farmers could crop this year. 28 May 09