The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu, the National Chief Imam, says he is ready to engage in behind-the-scenes diplomacy to enhance the quality of the mediation process to resolve the ongoing Bawku conflict.

This comes after the President, John Dramani Mahama, had tasked the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to initiate a mediation process that would see to the resolution of the decades-long conflict that recently led to the loss of lives after fresh clashes.

The interest of the Chief Imam in the mediation process was expressed in a press statement signed by Dr Mohammed Marzuq Abubakari Azindoo, the personal assistant to the national chief imam.

According to the statement, the Chief Imam said he is disheartened by recent arson at a police station and the killing of peacekeeping personnel in the area.

He further condemned the shooting of the vehicle of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) when he paid a work visit to the area after a clash between some irate youth and the police had ensued.

Sheikh Sharubutu has urged the factions involved in the chieftaincy conflict to put an end to their conflict in order to restore peace to the community.

“He calls for de-escalation, reconciliation, and unification in the Bawku Traditional Area irrespective of the ethnic, religious and political affiliations of the people,” the statement highlighted.

He also urged Ghanaians to depoliticise the conflict and work towards finding amicable solutions to the conflict.

“His eminence advises the media to be ethical, peace-loving, reconciliatory and unifying in their reportage and analysis of the conflict.

“Jaundiced analysis that has the potential to inflame passion should be avoided,” the statement read.

The long-standing Bawku conflict is a chieftaincy dispute that has fuelled ethnic tension between the Kusasis and the Mamprusis in the Bawku Traditional Area.