Minister of Defence tours Bawku
Mr Mark Woyongo, the Minister of Defence, has entreated military personnel and residents of the Bawku Municipality to be vigilant in order to clamp down on the proliferation of arms in the area and surrounding communities.
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He noted that such a measure was necessary to maintain the prevailing peace in Bawku, saying, "I am happy that for some time now, guns in the area have remained silent and I pray that they should forever remain silent for peace to continue to prevail in the area".
He made the statement when he called on the Bawku Naba, Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, at his palace in Bawku last Saturday. The minister, who was accompanied by the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, also called on the leader of the Mamprusi community in Bawku, Alhaji Akalifa Bugri.
The visit formed part of his tour of some military establishments in the area, as well as to acquaint himself with the challenges facing the military personnel in the area in their quest to maintain peace.
Mr Woyongo pointed out that there was the need for the military to scrutinise all vehicles entering and coming out of Bawku, and added that the residents must themselves be "security conscious and report all suspicious characters and movements to the security forces for thorough investigations".
According to the minister, the proliferation of arms across borders in the West African sub-region, as well as in the country was a wake-up call on security agencies in the area to be alert to maintain the prevailing peace in Bawku.
Bawku conflict
The minister observed that if all parties in the conflict would remain committed to the peace process and dialogue for the mutual benefit of the residents, the development of the area would increase rapidly.
He commended military personnel for the huge sacrifices they had made over the years to restore peace in the area. Mr Woyongo equally entreated chiefs in the three northern regions to come together to find ways of resolving the numerous chieftaincy and land disputes in the three regions.
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Lift ban on motor riding
The Bawku Naba entreated the government to consider lifting the ban on motor riding in the area to boost commercial activities.
"For me, I think we have passed that stage in the conflict where people would use the riding of motors to foment trouble; residents are now aware that conflict has negative implications for the area," the chief noted.
In response, Mr Woyongo stated that intelligence reports indicated that the time was not yet ripe for lifting of the ban on motor riding in the area. He noted that if the Inter-Ethnic Peace Committee recommended that all parties in the Bawku conflict were satisfied with the peace process, then the government would not hesitate to lift the ban on motor riding in the area. He, however, noted that the ban on motor riding in Bawku was not "indefinite because it will certainly be lifted when security improves to an appreciable level to enable people to go about their normal businesses".
Bazua Camp
Addressing military personnel at the Bazua Camp, the minister equally charged the personnel to check rampant smuggling activities in the Bawku area.
He assured them that plans were underway to upgrade the camp to a battalion level after the various facilities at the camp had been improved upon.
The minister said on his return to Accra, he would facilitate the process to secure a standby generator, water reservoir and a gas cooker to improve upon cooking activities in the camp.
He acknowledged that accommodation facilities for military personnel in the country needed to be improved.
Mr Woyongo later presented two Infantry assault vehicles to the camp to facilitate their operations.