Former Vice President and NPP presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has issued a heartfelt plea for peace in the long-standing Bawku conflict between the Kusasis and Mamprusis.
Speaking in Nalerigu, he expressed deep sorrow over the deadly clashes, emphasizing that the two groups share a rich cultural heritage.
“We are the same people with so many things in common,” he said, highlighting their linguistic similarities and intermarriages. “Our languages are almost the same. We have inter-married. We are one people.”
Dr. Bawumia urged the feuding parties to prioritize peace, leveraging their shared identities to forge unity.
“Let us give peace in Bawku a chance through the many things that unite us.”
He also condemned the politicization of the conflict, particularly the false narrative that he was buying weapons for the Mamprusis. “They spread wicked lies that I was buying weapons for the Mamprusis,” he said, adding that “those who peddled these lies have been exposed.” Dr. Bawumia emphasized that peace in Bawku should take precedence over personal ambitions, praying that the Asantehene’s mediation team would bring about the much-needed peace.
“The peace of Bawku and its surroundings should matter more than ambition,” he stressed, concluding with a poignant appeal to end the senseless killings of innocent people.
In his address, Dr. Bawumia underscored the importance of supporting the Asantehene’s mediation efforts, led by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to resolve the conflict.
