Bawku conflict politicised for electoral gains’ – Martin Amidu alleges

Former Attorney General and Special Prosecutor, Martin Alamisi Amidu, has accused the government of deliberately exploiting the ongoing Bawku conflict for partisan electoral gains ahead of the December 2024 elections.

In a detailed article, he said, “The resurgence of the Bawku intractable fratricidal conflict in October 2024 as an instrument of partisan political election engineering to influence the electorate is the clearest example of the politicisation of intractable conflicts by incumbent governments any time elections are knocking at the door in Ghana.”

Amidu criticized Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s handling of the crisis during President Akufo-Addo’s absence, describing the government’s approach as opaque and unaccountable.

“The resurgent Bawku conflict with a high intensity almost two months before this year’s elections was supervised by the Vice President…without the sovereign people of Ghana apprised of what the government was doing to contain the situation,” he said.

He added that even after the President’s return, the administration has maintained “an eerie silence” on the matter.

Amidu argued that the lack of transparency has left citizens vulnerable to misinformation.

“The citizen must be apprised directly and transparently by the government on how many compatriots are dead and maimed in the intractable conflicts throughout the country during this election season to avoid speculation and the spreading of disinformation and misinformation,” he wrote.

Mr Amidu warned that “the devil finds work for the uninformed, disinformed, and misinformed.”

He further alleged that the conflict benefits partisan interests, stating, “The resurgence of the October 2024 Bawku fratricidal conflict is government-generated as a result of the deliberate creation of a failure of human security for political electioneering which benefits the partisan merchants of conflict.”

The former prosecutor recounted an incident involving a suspected arms shipment into Bawku that escalated into a gunfight.

“One of the adversaries received information that a long red bus, suspected to be conveying arms…was travelling towards Bawku escorted by two armoured vehicles,” he revealed.

This ambush and subsequent gunfire, according to Amidu, only intensified local tensions and eroded trust in the security agencies.

Amidu concluded by holding the government accountable for its role in exacerbating the conflict.

“We the People delegated our sovereign power as citizens to the incumbent government…It is, therefore, imperative that the President and his Vice-President, the anointed successor, prove themselves…by transparently accounting to We the People for how they managed our security.”