Sunyani, Oct. 31, GNA – The Northern Development Forum (NDF) has expressed worry about the resurgence and intensifications of ‘mindless violence’, and the attendant needless deaths of innocent citizens at Bawku in the Upper West Region.
The NDF is a non-partisan organisation that brings together people from the five Regions of the North of the country to promote peace and development of the northern part of Ghana and equitable and peaceful development of the nation.
A statement issued and signed by Major Albert Don-Chebe (Rtd), the Chair of the NDF said “The peoples of Bawku and its environs have witnessed untold suffering in the last four years”.
“There are no signs that this carnage will end anytime soon because the acts of provocation and impunity appear to be intensifying by the day,” a copy of the statement made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani indicated.
“We are much appalled that scarce resources must be diverted from promoting livelihoods and development to the endless security and so-called mediation efforts.
“Citizens of Northern Ghana are completely dismayed and traumatised by the intensity of the recent clashes and call upon the government to exercise its authority to sanitise the Bawku area for peace to prevail,” it added.
The statement said, “we are greatly concerned by the seeming absence of a discernible government strategy and programme aimed at removing the agent provocateurs in the Bawku area”.
It therefore admonished people in the Northern regions to reflect deeply on the consequences of the resort to violence to resolve matters arising from minor ethnic, traditional and cultural differences.
“Unless we the people of Northern Ghana unite in one accord in the pursuit of peace and development, we will dissipate our energies and resources in never-ending conflicts founded upon dubious historical narratives that have no relevance for the accelerated development of our communities as we so much desire”.
Northern Ghanaians without exception are confronted by poverty, illiteracy and ignorance and these intolerable ethnic clashes will not contribute to the success or development of any community.
The statement advised Northerners to continue to cherish the richness and diversity of their cultures and histories, saying “we believe that our cultural and historical diversities are an invitation for mutual respect, cooperation, learning and sharing of our unique identities”.
“These differences should never provide any grounds for power struggles and domineering,” it added, advising that “brothers and sisters put the guns and swords aside and let us join hands to make our communities better places for our future generations”.
GNA
