The simmering trouble in the Upper East Region municipality of Bawku was on the verge of boiling over a few days ago but for the swift intervention by the Ministry of the Interior through the security agencies.
As we compose this commentary there is an eerie silence in the always-busy town as security personnel patrol the streets just so nothing untoward occurs.
We are appalled by the turn of events when especially the bones of contention, remote and immediate, can be dealt with amicably without bloodshed.
Bawku is a conflict zone which for a considerable period has not witnessed smoking guns. The reversal of the acceptable security situation in the town a few days ago is cause for worry.
Training firearms on each other because of disagreements over chieftaincy or funeral issues should not be allowed to be a feature of our landscape.
The cost of restiveness in a given area is so high that allowing such a situation to replace peace should not be allowed to take root.
Elders in both feuding communities should bite the bullet and initiate moves towards burying the hatchet which is the most desirable thing to do. Let all persons of goodwill across the country join the efforts to restore peace in Bawku through encouraging remarks bereft of inciting words capable of fueling even more what is already an incendiary condition.
The beautiful cosmopolitan municipality of Bawku should be preserved for generations unborn. We have come a long way to this milestone peace. To therefore, allow what can be managed to destroy what we have achieved over the years is something we should abhor by all means.
Infrastructural deficits exist in Bawku the addressing of which calls for the prevalence of peace. That peace is being threatened by the misunderstanding which degenerated into the firing of weapons in the town and informing the deployment of troops in the town.
The absence of peace is a disincentive for investments. Bawku deserves better. We call on the youth from both sides of the feuding communities to take the lead in saying ‘no’ to violence. There will neither be victors nor vanquished under such circumstances.
We know the youth of Bawku, an important trading town with links to neighbouring countries, love their municipality and would protect her from being destroyed by such avoidable clashes which have led to the imposition of a deserving curfew. It is such for love for the land of their ancestors that they must exhibit by steering away from targeting each other for shooting and maiming.
The funds which could have been used to advance the cause of Bawku are being used to maintain law enforcement agents in the town so fatalities will be obviated.
We acknowledge the swiftness with which the Interior Minister responded to the incident. Even as efforts are on to restore normalcy a long lasting solution to the challenge should be found.
The recurrence of the security threat is an indication that the issue was sufficiently resolved hence its quick resurrection.
The security response can douse the fire being generated but this will start again with the least provocation such as the attempt at the performing of a four-decade old funeral of a chief.
We should not allow such skirmishes to retard the progress of the nation. Trouble makers who refuse to allow peace to prevail should be isolated and dealt with according to the laws of the land.