ECOMOG must intervene in Bawku crisis – CPP

The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has appealed to the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to intervene in the resolution of the conflict in Bawku to bring lasting peace to the area.

The Party said the ethnic and political dimensions of the Bawku conflict had fuelled mistrust among the feuding factions and thus the need for a “neutral force” to intervene and bring the fighters “to submission.”

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency as part of the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra, Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong-Kumankumah, the Flagbearer of CPP in the 2024 Presidential Election, said ECOMOG’s intervention would help to disarm and “silence the guns in Bawku.”

Failure to silence the guns before embarking on negotiation missions would make the work of mediators difficult, she said.

“I call on ECOMOG to intervene to resolve the protracted Bawku conflict. I believe that negotiation has been going on, yet we hear of all kinds of weapons showing,” Nana Sarpong-Kumankumah said.

“It is important that a group of people that is neutral, that they trust, go in there with a certain commanding force to disarm everyone and bring them to a table for negotiation.”

Expressing concern over the recent spate of attacks in the Bawku area, the CPP Flagbearer said the West African Community must “show empathy” for women and children in the Bawku area and support resolution efforts.

ECOMOG is the military arm of ECOWAS. It was formed in 1990 to intervene in conflicts and restore constitutional order within the ECOWAS region.

Its primary role is to act as a peacekeeping force, intervening in conflicts, protecting humanitarian aid, and supporting political dialogue.

During a recent tour of the Upper East Region, President John Dramani Mahama urged feuding factions in the protracted Bawku chieftaincy disputes to embrace the peace mediation efforts initiated by the Government to bring sanity to the area.

Since his assumption into office, President Mahama has prioritised the resolution of the Bawku conflict to restore lasting peace and ensure development.

He had engaged various stakeholders, with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, leading the mediation efforts to reach a common ground.

Source: GNA

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