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President Confers With Mamprusis |
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President J.A. Kufuor yesterday held a meeting with the overlord of the Mamprugu State, Nayiri Naa Bahagu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, and 35 paramount and divisional chiefs from the area in continued efforts at finding a solution to the Bawku conflict. |
Mamprugu is the traditional area of the Mamprusis and the overlord was invited by President Kufuor to help find a solution to the conflict between the Mamprusis and Kusasis in the Bawku municipality.
The meeting was held behind closed doors at the Castle but Naa Sheriga in brief remarks earlier advised the people in the Bawku area to bury their differences and live in peace.
"We are all brothers and sisters and so let us live as such without reference to any ethnic origins of any group. We are all Ghanaians and, therefore, ethnicity should be forgotten," he said.
The overlord of the Mamprugu said his kingdom, whose traditional headquarters is at Nalerigu in the Northern Region, transcends beyond regional boundaries.
He said Bawku is not a new settlement and made reference to an earlier appeal he made to the people in the area to live in peace.
He said those living in Bawku have been there for centuries and added that the recent disturbances has a historical background and that is why he has been very concerned about it.
"I, as the father, regard all those who live in Bawku and its surrounding areas as my sons and daughters," he said.
The overlord said the developments which led to the crisis should be deplored.
President Kufuor said he recognises the important position the Nayiri occupies in the country and that was why he has invited him to seek his counsel and cooperation in an effort to secure lasting peace in the area.
Ethnic clashes broke out between the Mamprusis and Kusasis in the Bawku area on December 31, last year.
Since then a dusk to dawn curfew was imposed on the area and troops from the military and the police were dispatched to maintain law and order.
With the military-cum police presence relative calm was restored which culminated in the review of the curfew hours on a number of occasions.
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