Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga is alleging that the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, is given some six million Ghana cedis (GHS6,000,000.00) monthly by the Finance Ministry to manage the Bawku conflict.
This, Mr. Ayariga says, translates into a whopping eighteen million Ghana cedis (Ghc18,000,000.00) each quarter.
Speaking on Woezor TV on Saturday, August 3, the outspoken MP said despite the huge sum of money allocated to the Ministry there is no evidence of work done.
Subsequently, he dared Mr. Kan-Dapaah to respond to his allegations.
“If it is not true, he should come out publicly and tell me that it is not true and I will show him the records that every quarter that this conflict has been going on, he takes 18 million Ghana cedis. This is scandalous, this is unfair, and inappropriate and the people of Bawku should know this.
“The people should know that the NPP government through its National Security Minister signs a cheque of 6 million Ghana cedis every month, 18 million every quarter is given to them by the Ministry of Finance in the name of solving their problems. But how have they solved that problem? The problem has not been solved”.
The former Minister of Youth and Sports under the John Dramani Mahama administration further explained that the ongoing conflict also made it impossible for his party’s presidential candidate to visit the town during his tour of the region.
He asserted that this decision by John Mahama to bypass the area based on advise from security experts resulted in the anger expressed by the youth through the burning of posters.
“Even yesterday, John Dramani Mahama could not drive through the town. If you noticed, we had to bypass the town because many of the youth wanted to follow him on the tour, and he could not drive through the town with them for fear that anything could happen to anybody.
“The same way my uncle had difficulties in attending the rally and so they demanded that John Dramani Mahama should come to them and yet the security situation was not promising and everybody was growing cold feet. We didn’t want to trigger anything and so when we decided not to pass through the town, you noticed that yesterday they were very bitter and posters of mine and John Mahama were being burnt. It was because of the security situation and the fact that security experts advised us not to take the risk. It is painful and it hurts.
“But while all this is going on, the National Security Minister signs a cheque of 6 million Ghana cedis every month in the name of dealing with the Bawku security problem,” he stressed.
Background
There has been recurring chieftaincy dispute in Bawku and its environs, characterised by violent clashes that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years.
In addition, properties running into millions of Ghana cedis have been lost to the violence.
According to available information, the dispute is over the rightful ownership of the Bawku skin, referred to as na’am.
As of April 2024, 10 more deaths had been recorded with four local radio stations shut down.