Minister Accuses Gov’t Of Dragging It’s Feet

Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Wayongo, is accusing his own government of dilly-dallying in the Bawku crisis by sitting on proposals submitted to them, a situation he thinks is accounting for the upsurge in hostilities in the area.

Mr. Wayongo believes that until authorities in Accra deal decisively with the Bawku crisis, by implementing recommendations put forward by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), there will be “continuous sporadic shootings” in Bawku.

There were renewed hostilities and sporadic gun-shots in the Bawku Municipality last Friday, 30th October, and early this morning. Details of this dawn’s shooting incident are still sketchy, but unconfirmed reports say, on Sunday, 1st November, armed men shot into a group of mourners and the shooting continued while the streets were deserted.

According to the Minister, when fighting first erupted in the Bawku Municipality this year, the (REGSEC) made a number of recommendations to the authorities in Accra, but till date no positive action has been taken on the recommendations, and this he strongly thinks is dangerous and akin to a fuse ready to explode.

“The policemen on the ground complained they don’t have live (protective) jackets so anytime there is an incident like that, they take to their heels. It’s only the soldiers who are very daring, they are able to come to terms with the situation and I believe they are the people who are keeping the peace in the area…It is not as if we’re not proactive, but there are limitations…the last time the REGSEC met the Minister for the Interior (Hon. Cletus Avorka), we outlined the problems that the security men are confronted with on the ground… and until those concerns are addressed we’ll continue to have this sporadic shooting (incidents),” he said in an interview on JoyFM.

Whiles expressing disquiet at the current state of affairs, the REGSEC Chairman acknowledged that only a shared responsibility will best salvage the situation.

“It is a collective effort, we are on the ground, we make the recommendations and the people in Accra are supposed to implement…we cannot send troops, we don’t have troops here, so we expect that the people in Accra will say okay, we got your report, we are sending so many troops or so many policemen to your area…that is the best we can do, to make recommendations for consideration by the authorities in Accra,” he stated.

Hon. Mark Wayongo stressed however, that beyond making recommendations, they will meet with “the youth, opinion leaders and the other minority tribes in the area who are also gradually being dragged into the conflict,” to fashion out ways of resolving the current conflict whiles their “recommendations are being attended to.”