Catholic priests in Bawku call for end to conflict

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

We, Catholic Priests, are among the numerous well-meaning Ghanaians saddened and very concerned about the happenings in Bawku.

From the turn of the nineteenth century, Bawku and its surrounding villages have been playing host to numerous people of diverse ethnic origins i.e., The Bissa, Dagomba, Hausa, Kusaas, Mamprusi and Moshie, among others. As children, the “socksball” did not make a distinction between the feet that kicked it.

However, the last two decades have witnessed an upsurge in the violent conflict which has turned the once neighbour and friend into opponent and enemy.

This has made Bawku a pale shadow of a once bustling economic hub and hope of the north owing to its strategic location as a border town to Togo and Burkina Faso.

Thank you, but…

In the long struggle for peace by the people of Bawku, we wish to commend the government for the continuous deployment of security forces to the area, especially for the initiative undertaken by the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, where he invited both the Nayiri and the Zugraan for discussions towards fostering peace in Bawku. We also commend the military and police deployed to the area.

Bawku can no longer be mentioned without immediate thoughts of war. The basic question since the recent eruption of the conflict in November 2021 till now is: ‘Has the government done all within its power to bring finality to this conflict?’

It is evident that the government efforts, including funding military and police deployments and curfews, are not yielding the desired results. Although social media is not the root cause, the eruption of the recent conflict is partly due to no action being taken by the government to trace and track down the numerous face and faceless Facebook accounts and media houses that keep spewing disrespectful language and calling for violence when we have a full Cyber Security Authority and National Media Commission dedicated to regulating cyber and the media activities.

Take action now

We are calling on the government to develop a serious interest in the Bawku conflict and do all within its power to bring it to an end, especially in the wake of the growing terrorism in our neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Togo.

This is a wake-up call for “the Bawku Problem” to be viewed widely as a national problem if not an international one. Ghana remains the only bastion of peace in the West African sub-region; a compromise of this situation can throw the whole West African sub-region into irredeemable chaos.

It is heart-wrenching to realise that several crimes against humanity are being committed in Bawku; women and children are being killed in cold blood during curfew hours in their homes just because they belong to a different tribe.

No one can choose a tribe for himself/herself except by God alone. Needless to mention that the future of the surviving children remains bleak as they are unable to attend school. Furthermore, it is unbelievable and disheartening to read people describing the loss of human lives on social media platforms as if it were some kind of game with obscene language, like, “two-nil”, “we have wasted him”, “mass burial”, “rest in hell fire” among many other unsavoury phrases. Since when did we lose our humanity as a people and as a country?

Familiarity

Let us not forget that the more familiar we become with certain things; we downplay their seriousness. The more our children keep hearing gunshots, we train a generation of violent youths; the more untrained people keep shooting guns, the more they become experts and we raise an army of expert insurgents; the more people get killed, we nurture a battalion of angered, wounded and bloodthirsty men waiting to avenge their fathers. The more people get used to the paucity of military presence, the more familiarity festers and the fear and respect for the military are lost.

All hands on deck

We must sit up and bring closure to the Bawku conflict, if not, we do not only expose our country’s security systems to breaches but are laying the grounds for terrorist activities in Ghana.

We cannot as a country continue to pretend to be peaceful to the outside world when Bawku has been in conflict for years.

Should this country be unstable due to developed terrorism, our politicians should note that they will lose their jobs and the peace we boast of to the world will end.

If one part is not peaceful, it affects all (conf. 1 Corinthians 12:12-24). The Bawku problem is a Ghana problem and the failure to bring peace to Bawku is a failure of the whole country.

So, in as much as we appeal to the government, we also appeal to our people to lay down their arms and allow the peace process to prevail.

May the peace of Christ visit the good people of Bawku and the hearts of the authorities to be bold and firm in the protection of the peace that Bawku badly needs.

God Bless Bawku, God Bless Ghana.
Amen

Signed: Msgr. Camillo Sarko on Behalf of Concerned Catholic Priests from the Bawku Area in the Navrongo Bolgatanga Diocese
Email address: priestfrombawku@gmail.com