President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that whilst the government is spending money, time, energy and lives to keep the country safe from external dangers, the country continues to have so many chieftaincy and land disputes around the country, which tend to be breeding grounds for internal tensions and destabilisation.
The president referred to the violent deadly conflict in Bawku.
He indicated that “the tragedy is not only that a thriving and dynamic town is being reduced to a wasteland of destruction and distrust, we are spending money and energy that would have been better spent on development needs of Bawku, providing security to keep brothers and sisters from killing each other.”
Delivering the State of the Nation address on Tuesday, February 27, he said “Mr Speaker, what should concern all of us and not just the people of Bawku is that, in its current state, Bawku is an alluring magnet to mischief makers and extremists operating a few kilometres across from the border.”
In the bid to find a lasting solution to the conflict, he said, the gGovernment has, in the past year, undertaken a number of measures, including the establishment of a special Bawku Taskforce, and the intensification of engagements with the factions for the resolution of the chieftaincy dispute.
On the recommendation of the Upper East Regional and National Security Councils, he noted that, four radio stations, that have been broadcasting incendiary language and propagating hate speech, have been shut down by the National Communications Authority.
The Chief Justice has also recently established specialised Courts in Accra and in Kumasi to deal expeditiously with criminal matters emanating from the Bawku conflict, he said.
“Government is determined to do all it can to ensure there is security in every inch of the territory of our country, but it also is very much up to the citizens to help create the needed atmosphere, and I am, thus, appealing to all citizens to take the See Something, Say Something campaign of the Ministry of National Security very seriously,” Mr Akufo-Addo assured.