The Government has endorsed the Bawku mediation report by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and directed the immediate return of the rival chief, Alhaji Seidu Abagre, to Nalerigu under the authority of the Nayiri.
In an official statement released on Wednesday, December 17, and signed by the Spokesperson to the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the government accepted all recommendations in the report presented a day earlier, affirming the Supreme Court’s position on the rightful Bawku overlord.
The government stated that the report provides a “comprehensive, fact-based, and forward-looking roadmap” for lasting peace in the conflict-ridden area
key and immediate directive from the government is the recall of the rival chief, Alhaji Seidu Abagre.
“Government will immediately facilitate the safe movement of Alhaji Seidu Abagre to Nalerigu, where he shall remain available to receive the directives of the Nayiri,” the statement read.
In a development to address the root causes of the conflict, President John Dramani Mahama has also directed the establishment of a One Billion Ghana Cedi (GHS 1,000,000,000) Bawku Revitalisation Fund.
The fund, to be disbursed from 2026 to 2028, aims to rebuild critical infrastructure like roads, healthcare, education, and irrigation facilities to restore Bawku as an economic hub in Northern Ghana.
It will be managed by a high-level committee chaired by the Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson.
The government’s statement called for national support, urging all parties to accept the report’s conclusions “in the supreme interest of peace and national stability
This endorsement directly contradicts Nayiri’s earlier position, where he labelled the mediation process “orchestrated” and “procedurally flawed,” and vehemently denied ever agreeing to the report’s contents.
The Bawku chieftaincy dispute, a decades-long conflict between the Kusasi and Mamprusi, has been a persistent flashpoint for violence and instability in the Upper East Region.
