Debates of 8 Feb 2023

Hon Members, I have a
short announcement to make. You will
recall that in my opening remarks
yesterday, I mentioned that this year
marks the 30th Anniversary of Ghana's constitutional rule under the fourth
republican Parliament.
This is a significant milestone as
democratic governance has been
sustained for a continuous period of 30
years. Accordingly, in consultation with
Leadership of Parliament, we have
decided that the celebration of the 30th
Anniversary of parliamentary
democracy in Ghana be formally
launched on Tuesday, 14th February,
2023, at 9.00 a.m. in the Justice Daniel
Francis Annan Auditorium, Job 600,
Parliament House, Accra. Hon
Members, a number of activities have
been listed for the celebration across the
country. It is, therefore, important that all
of you, Hon Members, who collectively
give expression to the sovereign will of
the people as their representatives, attend
the official launch of the 30th
Anniversary Celebration where the year-
long programme of activities would be
highlighted. It is important to add that we
are inviting civil society, the private
sector and some key personalities to be
part of this official launch by Parliament,
and I stress the presence of all Hon
Members is very essential.
Thank you for the attention.
Votes and Proceedings and the
Official Report

Hon Members, we will
move straight to the item numbered 4 -
Correction of Votes and Proceedings and
the Official Report. We will start with the
correction of Votes and Proceedings of
Tuesday, 7th February, 2023.
Page 1…13 --
Yes, Hon Member for Tamale North?

Mr
Speaker, before I seek your guidance, I
would like to apologise for my absence,
and that of the Hon Ranking Member for
the Committee on Lands and Forestry
yesterday when this issue was being
considered. At the time, I remember we
had stepped out to have a conversation.
Clearly, this is not misreporting, but
what is reported as was captured by

Mr Speaker, I
also saw the anomaly this morning.
Before I got a copy of today's Order Paper — The observation made by my Hon Colleague is correct. However,
because the Hon Minister would lay the
Annual Report this morning, which
captures what was laid yesterday, I think
the way out would be for the Committee
to take the referral and provide a
paragraph in its Report, to indicate that
the consolidated accounts must not be
laid separately from the Annual Report.
The audited accounts is a component of
the Annual Report. So, I think we are
good to go with the laying of the Annual
Report.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon Members, both the
Hon Members for Tamale North and
Asutifi South are correct. They should
have come together as Annual Reports
but since we laid the audited report
yesterday, I think they recognise the
mistake and so they are bringing the
Annual Report which would be laid
today. It is just that we realised that the
2020 Audited Report was not part of
what was laid yesterday. However, the
2020 Annual Report is captured today.
So, we would get to that very soon when
we start Public Business.
In the meantime, let us continue with
the correction of the Votes and
Proceedings. I think we got to page 11.
Page 11…13 —

Mr
Speaker, please, the item numbered 7 on
page 11 - “Comments by the new Leadership”. The new Hon Minority Leader first expressed appreciation to the
Party and the Caucus in addition to the
appreciation to the outgone Leadership
but that has been omitted and I thought
that it would have been a more complete
summary of his welcome address since
the appreciation was in threefold: to the
Party, the Caucus and the outgone
Leadership. However, we only have the
appreciation to the outgone Leadership,
and not the Party and Caucus.
Mr Speaker, this is because the
communication came from the Party as
you indicated, and it was signed by the
General Secretary of the Party.
I am grateful, Mr Speaker.

Clerks-at-the-Table,
please take note of that.

Mr Speaker, the item
numbered 1 on page 15 - “Supplement” - talks about the opening of a meeting but it does not mention which meeting it
is. I have a feeling that the Committee
meeting being referred to here is the
Business Committee meeting. So, they
should insert the title “Business Committee” to regularise it because it is a bit misleading since we do not know
which meeting had an opening and other
engagements.

Hon Member, thank you
very much. Clerks-at-the-Table, please
take note of that and insert it in the
opening of the Business Committee
meeting.
Page 16?
Hon Members, in the absence of any
further corrections, the Votes and
Proceedings of the First Sitting held on
Tuesday, 7th January, 2023, as presented
and corrected is hereby adopted as the
true record of proceedings.
Yes, Majority Leadership?

Mr
Speaker, I would seek your kind leave to
vary the order of Business for us to move
to the commencement of Public Business
and take the laying of these Papers, after
which we could go on to take the
Statements.

Yes, Minority Front
bench?

Mr
Speaker, we have no objection.

Hon Members, at the
commencement of Public Business. The
item numbered 6 - Presentation of Paper, and the item numbered 6(a) to be
presented by the Hon Minister for
Finance.

Mr Speaker, I
would seek your kind leave for it to be
done by the Hon Deputy Minister
instead.

Mr Speaker, as I discussed with my Hon
Colleague, this is something we would
allow today but going forward, we have
agreed that, in principle, we would stick
by the rules to make sure that Hon
Ministers comply when they are invited.

We would now move to
the item numbered 6(b) and take (i) to
(viii) together.

Mr
Speaker, we would seek your leave for it
to be done by the Hon Minister for
Health.

Minority Frontbench,
any objection?

Mr Speaker, no objection.

Hon Members, the item
numbered 6(b)(i) to (viii) by the Hon
Minister for Health on behalf of the
Minister for Lands and Natural
Resources.
By the Minister for Health (Mr
Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) (on behalf of
the Minister for Lands and Natural
Resources) —
(i) Financial Statements of the
Lands Commission for the
Year 2020.
(ii) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2015.
(iii) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2016.
(iv) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2017.
(v) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2018.
(vi) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2019.
(vii) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2020.
(viii) Annual Report of the Lands
Commission for 2021.
Referred to the Committee on Lands
and Forestry

Mr Speaker,
when an Hon Minister is called to lay a
Paper, he is expected to bow, but in the
case of the Hon Minister for Health, he
did not bow; he nodded his head.

I actually took notice of
his bow, not the nodding of his head. I
recognise that he was perpendicularly
challenged and so I accepted the bow.
[Laughter] Are we alright with that? We
can move on.
We would now go back to Statements,
and at this juncture, the First Deputy
Speaker to take the Chair

Yesterday, in consultation with

Leadership, we agreed that the Hon

Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama

Ayariga, should make a Statement today

so we would start with that Statement.

Mr Speaker, Sumaila
Jafaru, a 12-year old boy watched
soldiers gruesomely kill his father in a
garden at Baratinga, a suburb of Missiga
Electoral Area in Bawku Municipality.
The 12-year old Jafaru took to his heels
and headed in the direction of their
family home. I personally saw bullet
holes on the wall of their house caused
by gunshots by soldiers who shot at this
12-year old boy and missed him as he
sought to escape their brutality. Upon
reaching the front of his family house,
Jafaru jumped into a mud barn used to
store dry hay in front of the compound.
Eyewitnesses said that from afar, they
saw the men in military uniform who
chased 12-year old Jafaru shoot into the
barn and subsequently, they saw the hay
in the barn burning. 12-year old Jafaru
was most likely hit by these bullets shot
into the barn in which he sought to hide
but the fire started burning his body in
the barn.
Jafaru's mother run out of the house and realising that her 12-year old son
was in the burning mud barn hurriedly
went for a bucket of water to pour into
the barn. Eyewitnesses said they saw the
men in military uniform prevent her. She
persisted in pouring water into the
burning barn and ultimately, they shot
her hand to completely disable her from
trying to rescue her 12-year old son.
Her husband is dead. Her 12-year-old
son is dead and burning in the barn and
she has sustained gunshot wounds and
bleeding profusely. Jafaru's late father, and her husband, Adamu Sumaila, aged
32, and whose house address is No.
ME43 Baratinga, Missiga, was married
to two wives and survived by 7 children.
He was executed by the soldiers who
dragged him out of a nearby house that
he had run to hide. Eyewitnesses saw the
soldiers shoot him at close range in the
valley where he was fetching water with
a donkey cart. The valley is near Songuri
Primary School and houses a number of
dry-season gardens.
11.54 a.m. — [MR FIRST DEPUTY

Mr Speaker, six other
persons were similarly shot and killed in
the valley in military-style execution
within the view of eyewitnesses. Four of
them were apprehended in the valley and
after their hands were tied to their backs,
the men in Ghana Armed Forces
uniforms took turns shooting them one
after the other as they cried aloud and
asked for mercy. I saw with my very eyes
the blood of these helpless victims who
were killed by the men who are supposed
to protect them. The valley has many
mango trees. Some of the gardeners took
refuge in the trees. So, what the soldiers
did was within their full view and
hearing and they have come forward to
give eyewitness accounts. These six
executed citizens included the followi

Statements

1. Akudugu Bugnaba Karim, a 31- year-old nurse who was running

away when he heard gunshots

from the armored vehicles and

soldiers on foot approaching

their community. His home

address is MC 146 Songuri-

Missiga. He was married and

survived by three children. His

mother, Issifu Ayishetu, and

father, Akudugu Issifu, are both

alive. He died of gunshot wounds.

Eyewitnesses confirmed seeing

him being chased by a group of

military men, some on foot and

others using an armored vehicle.

This incident occurred at the same

“Valley of Death” near Sunguri Primary School where some

members of the community had

sought refuge.

2. Abunbiana Madi, a 33-year-old man was survived by three

wives and six children. He lived

at the addressed MC 147,

Songuri at the Missiga Electoral

Area. His father, Mamudu

Abunbiana, and mother,

Mamudu Salamatu, are both

alive. He was a motorcycle

mechanic temporarily living

and working in Kumasi but had

just come home to visit his

family. He died of gunshot

wounds.

3. Kassim Issah, aged 33, and resident at House No. ME43,

Zoogin in Missiga. He was

married with one child. His

parents are still alive. He died

of military gunshot wounds.

4. Ndeego Mumuni, aged 39, and a resident of house No. ME23,

Baratinga, Missiga. He was

married to one wife and had

five children. He died of

gunshot wounds inflicted by the

soldiers.

5. Haruna Kudus, aged 17, a resident of house No. ME36

Zoogin, Missiga. He also died

of gunshots wounds inflicted by

the military men in the same

valley.

6. Ayuma Eliasu, aged 37, and a

resident of Sarabogo, Pusiga. He

happened to be in the vicinity. He

is married with two wives and

survived by seven children. He

died of gunshot wounds inflicted

by the Military. The incident

occurred in the same valley near

Sunguri Primary School.

Mr Speaker, these victims of military

execution were either at their gardens in

the valley or had run into the valley from

their homes upon hearing the

approaching military gunfire whilst at

home.

I have personally gone into the valley

and walked around the community to

observe and understand the army troop

movement that morning of 1st February,

2023. I have met and listened to

eyewitnesses who gave accounts of what

Statements

they saw and heard. Mr Speaker, I

believe them.

The Assembly Member of the Missiga

Electoral Area, Mr Musah Bukari,

braved it, and at the risk of being killed,

approached the soldiers and pleaded with

them to stop what they were doing. The

soldiers physically assaulted him until he

was bleeding profusely, but he stood his

ground and insisted that the soldiers must

stop what they were doing.

The soldiers got angry that his effort

had distracted them and diverted their

attention, and gave an opportunity for

those hiding in the trees to escape their

killings. Please join me to applaud and

recognise the bravery and heroism of the

Assembly Member whose actions saved

several lives that morning. He is slowly

recovering from his wounds. May God

bless this brave and courageous leader.

Mr Speaker, the Ghana Armed Forces

did not deny the various killings. In a

widely publicised statement of the

report, they mentioned that they

“neutralised armed men” in Guzesi valley that day. Mysteriously, they did

not retrieve a single weapon from any of

the alleged combatants. Their

explanations are clearly untenable.

Mr Speaker, the Military in Bawku has

been inflicting brutality on both sides in

the conflict. On 26th January, they shot

and killed Imoro Salifu in front of his

house in Patelmi in Bawku township. He

was aged 59 years. He was a resident of

house No: J25, Patelmi, Bawku; he is

survived by two wives and six children.

Dauda Salifu, also aged 60 years, was

shot and killed in front of his house at

No: J24 Patelmi, Bawku. He is survived

by a wife and five children. The incident

occurred in Patelmi on the 26th of

January, 2023.

Both in the township and the outskirts

of Bawku, we now have evidence that

the operational style of the Military has

evolved to include shooting and killing

citizens that they have been tasked to

protect. I wish to condemn all such

reckless killings. I equally condemn any

act of killings by all the factions

themselves in the conflict in Bawku. No

one has legal authority to deprive any

innocent citizen of his life.

It is unacceptable that the youth have

drawn lines that cannot be crossed by the

other factions. Those in the township

must live in freedom and be able to travel

out in safety. Those in the outskirts of

Bawku must also freely access the

central township. Let me also condemn

the actions of those who have mounted

road blocks in the past in the environs of

Bawku and the North East Region and

engaged in armed attacks of travellers

from Bawku. We should be a community

governed by laws and not the might of

guns.

I call on all, including the youth on

both sides of the conflict, to respect the

sanctity of lives in Bawku. I urge the

youth to appreciate that the Military was

brought in to protect lives and property

in Bawku. The Military must also realise

that they are dealing with human lives

which they have a duty, first and

foremost, to protect even in very trying

Statements

circumstances. I will engage the Military

constructively on the way forward.

However, I call on Parliament to look

into the military brutalities and their and

operational style in Bawku. I have

petitioned the Commission on Human

Rights and Administrative Justice

(CHRAJ) to address these specific

egregious human rights violations

occasioned by these cold-blooded

executions by the soldiers of the 10

citizens of Bawku. Within Military

regulations, I expect the command to

take the appropriate remedial action.

As a nation, we should leave no stone

unturned to ensure the accountability of

every organ of state, including law

enforcement agencies like the Military. It

is by demonstrating that our systems are

able to hold everyone accountable that

we will stop others from also taking the

law into their own hands. We should not

allow the seeds of radicalisation to be

sowed in any of our communities. Let

this Parliament demonstrate that we are a

functioning democracy abiding by the

supreme values of freedom and justice.

Meanwhile, I ask for calm in Bawku.

No youth should try to engage the

Military. The cooperation of everyone

with the Military is needed to see a

restoration of peace.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Yes, Hon
Member for Pusiga?

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the
opportunity to contribute to the
Statement ably made by my Hon
Colleague, the Hon Member for Bawku
Central, who is also a direct neighbour
shares borders with me when it comes to
our constituencies. I wish to, first of all,
extend my condolences to families of
those that I have not been able to visit,
and wish all the departed souls a peaceful
resting place.
Mr Speaker, it is with a heavy heart
that I rise to contribute to this Statement.
I had spoken to Eliasu Ayuma in the
morning before the killings, of which he
is a victim, took place. Mr Speaker, the
issue of Bawku — the crisis and the involvement of the Military — is a pity. It is very unfortunate. I have always
known and believed that it is very
important that the Military are brought
in, in order to stop the heinous killings
and all the atrocities that take place.
Unfortunately, several times, we have
been compelled to listen and to swallow,
with pain, the involvement of the
Military in killings of some of our
natives, and for that matter, civilians who
are not even part of it.
Mr Speaker, the pain of it is that
women and children are equally
brutalised and killed in cold blood. For
this Statement to have been made today,
some of us have directly been affected,
but what can we say? All we need is that
we, the lawmakers, the Government, the
Military itself rise and make sure that all
these killings come to a stop.
Some of us believe that if the Military
are to do the right thing, there would not
be anything like hearing a 12-year-old
boy being killed in a barn. A barn is a

Statements

place where foodstuff is stored in a

house. That means that the Military went

up to the house and did what they did — ensured that they killed this boy. We can

just imagine a mother watching her 12-

year-old son in a barn being shot at, and

when the barn caught fire, she went with

water to pour on the place. They stopped

her, and did not only end there, but shot

at her hand. Meanwhile, she is carrying

twins.

Mr Speaker, this is heart-wrenching. It

is a pity. It is a shame. That morning,

Eliasu had told me that he would be

going to the garden because I was also on

my way to my constituency, only for me,

to hear that he had been killed hours

later. Mr Speaker, the question I ask is,

“Is it right for the Military to follow and shoot at civilians who are not armed?” Is there no way by which these military

persons or individuals could have

arrested them?

At least, if I do not know anything

about how the Military should intervene,

I know very well that even if persons or

individuals are suspected, they should be

arrested and made to face the law. but not

to shot at.

Mr Speaker, just as you have heard

Hon Member for Bawku Central

Mahama Ayariga mentioned in his

Statement, there is not a single weapon

that was retrieved from all the persons

who were killed — not a single weapon — nothing to show. So why would they kill them? Why would they shoot at

them? How do you look at a human

being and just shoot at the person as if he

or she were a prey that you have been

looking for? It is very painful and

unfortunate.

Mr Speaker, when we go to our

constituencies — especially we those in the Upper East Region — because some time back, even in Walewale and other

places, we have got complaints on how

people try to block those commuting

from Bawku to either Kumasi or other

places. We travel to our constituencies

with fear. We sleep with so much fear

because we do not know what would

happen in the next minute.

Mr Speaker, please, let us take up this

issue and ensure that this long — I do not know whether to call it a war, crisis,

conflict, or whatever — It has existed for over 40 years and it still cannot be

resolved. As a country, why can we not

take this matter and ensure that it is

resolved? Why can the Government not

intervene? Why can we not come up with

a strategy to stop this? And if anything at

all, there should be some serious

investigation.

Mr Speaker, last but not the least, there

should be a serious investigation on this

particular incident because we have not

heard or seen anything to prove that

these people were on the ‘battlefield', for lack of a better word, and that led to their

being shot to death.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I

thank you for the opportunity to

contribute to the Statement. I wish us all

the best.

I intend to
give two more opportunities to those
within that enclave. Yes, the Hon

Statements

Ranking Member for Committee on

Defence and Interior?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would
like to commend the Hon Member who
made the Hon Statement, Mr Mahama
Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for
Bawku Central, for raising the brutalities
suffered by his constituents.
Mr Speaker, the allegation here is that
the brutalities were occasioned through
the acts or omissions of the Ghana
Armed Forces. To start with, the point
needs to be made that the reason for the
deployment of the Ghana Armed forces
and other security agencies in Bawku is
as a result of the age-old or long Bawku
conflict which has been with us. So,
while we condemn the brutalities in Bawku,
we need to be talking about finding
solutions to resolve that conflict. So far,
it appears, our approach has been kinetic
— the use of force, the deployment of troops on the ground to enforce law and
order— but the matter goes beyond the mere enforcement of law and order.
Mr Speaker, once upon a time, we had
the Bawku Inter-ethnic Peace
Committee in place, which was an
avenue for the fostering of dialogue and
the promotion of peace between the
ethnic groups in the area. Unfortunately,
that Committee has collapsed, and so, as
I speak, we do not have any avenue for
mediation in Bawku because that
particular Committee was a veritable
tool for reconciliation among the warring
factions. So, I would, right from the
outset, call on the Government to
actively intervene and create an avenue
so that the various ethnic groups in
Bawku —the Kusasi, the Mamprusi and
other smaller ethnic groups in the area — can converge in Bawku or outside
Bawku to discuss peace and resolve their
differences through peaceful means
other than the resort to the use of arms in
an attempt to resolve the conflict in
Bawku. There can never be a winner or a
loser in such armed conflicts.
Mr Speaker, having said that, it is
important for us to, at this stage,
underscore the point that the Ghana
Armed Forces are raised and maintained
by the resources of the Ghanaian
taxpayer and, therefore, are accountable
to the people of this country through
Parliament. Parliament, without doubt,
has oversight responsibility over the
Ghana Armed Forces. So, where there
are allegations of brutality against
citizens of this country at the hands of
our Armed Forces, the proper approach
is for this august House to assert its
authority by ensuring that all the
allegations made against our Armed
Forces are thoroughly investigated.
Mr Speaker, when some students in
Kumasi suffered at the hands of the
Police and a similar Statement was made
on the Floor by the Hon Member for
Asawase and Minority Chief Whip at the
time, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak
Muntaka, this House acted with dispatch
by getting the Committee on Defence
and Interior to intervene. The Committee
travelled to Kumasi and brought back a
voluminous Report. This time around,
given the nature of allegations levelled
against the Ghana Armed Forces, I
believe that an Ad doc Committee with
the core membership of the Defence and
Interior Committee playing a lead role
would suffice. Mr Speaker, if you would

Statements

agree to set up this committee, it should

be supported by experts because the

issues are very complex in nature and

may be beyond the capacity of such a

committee to delve into the matter and

come out with recommendations to

ensure that such brutalities do not occur

again.

Mr Speaker, in all fairness, the Ghana

Armed Forces has also responded to the

allegations of the brutalities levelled

against them. Their response is that they

neutralised armed combatants, but the

Hon Member for Bawku thinks

otherwise. The Hon Member for Bawku,

Mr Ayariga says if they were armed

combatants, weapons ought to have been

retrieved, at least from the scene where

the combatants were engaged or so. But

Mr Speaker, these are matters that cannot

be resolved sitting in this House if an

investigation is not commissioned. So, I

would urge that in line with the best

practices, we should investigate this

matter because if it is true that our Armed

Forces actually shot at unarmed

civilians, clearly, that would be a dent on

the reputation of the Ghana Armed

Forces, and yet this is an armed forces

that has acquired international reputation

and recognition for the high points and

marks scored in various theatres of war

across the globe. So, we are ranked as

one of the best in terms of peacekeeping.

Some of these accusations and

allegations, if not cleared, can create

troubles for the future participation of

our Armed Forces in the resolution of

global conflicts. So, we need to take a

very serious view of this.

Mr Speaker, what makes the Bawku

conflict very troubling for us all as a

country, and from a security standpoint,

has to do with the location of Bawku.

This is a town which borders Burkina

Faso and Togo. The part of Burkina Faso

that borders Bawku is facing terror

threats. So many terror attacks have been

recorded in territories inside Burkina

Faso, very close to the Kulungugu

Border.

Mr Speaker, with the conflict raging in

Bawku, if care is not taken, Bawku could

become the weakest link for the

infiltration of terrorists into our country,

and that is what even makes it more

compelling for us to treat the Bawku

conflict as a national issue, not just a

conflict between the Kusasis and the

Mamprusis. It is a crisis which has

escalated to a point where we need to

treat the Bawku issue now, as a national

one and give it national attention.

Mr Speaker, on that note, I would

appeal for calm once again in Bawku. I

would like to extend my deepest

condolences to the victims in Bawku — and the Hon Member who made the

Statement made it clear; the victims are

drawn from both sides of the conflict. He

made that observation in his Statement.

So, this is not a matter that should be

treated as Kusasis falling victim to

brutalities or Mamprusis falling victim to

brutalities of the security agencies in

Bawku. It is a matter of concern for all

the people living in and around Bawku.

Statements

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

I intend to
give the last opportunity to the Hon
Member for Zebilla and former Leader
of the House; before I come to you, Mr
Inusah Fuseini.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I would like to support the
Statement made by my Hon Brother, Mr
Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku
Central, where much of these activities is
taking place.
Mr Speaker, as we all know, we in
Ghana have a lot of respect for the
personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces,
particularly in terms of their discipline
and professionalism. Indeed, they are
internationally acclaimed as such. But
what happened on 1st February, 2023, in
Bawku, is an incident that detracts from
the positive image we have of them — the killing of six young men and a 12-
year-old boy — making the number seven — and wounding a woman in the process. This incident alone portrays a
negative impact on the hitherto good
image of the members of the Ghana
Armed Forces.
Mr Speaker, I thought that when this
story came out, the Ghana Armed Forces
should have been the first to apologise to
the country and families rather than
defend the indefensible. As the facts
were succinctly put out by Mr Mahama
Ayariga, the argument by the Ghana
Armed Forces that they engaged some
people in combat is absolutely not true.
And there is abundant evidence to
support this claim that it was a wanton
military brutality on innocent people of
Bawku on that day.
Mr Speaker, I say so against the
backdrop that no weapon was retrieved.
Why should soldiers chase after a young
boy, and when he ran into a barn, they set
it on fire? Was the young boy also
engaged in fighting? And when the
mother of the boy tried to put water to
quench the fire, she was attacked. Was
she also engaged in combat? Also, when
the Assemblyman of Misiga confronted
the Army on their excesses and was
beaten into a pulp, was he also engaged
in the combat? These facts suggest
clearly that the Army were on a frolic of
their own, if anything at all, and not that
they were there to defend the people.
Mr Speaker, this is not the only incident we know about. Last year, we, the six Members of Parliament (MPs) from the area that is from Kusaug, had the opportunity to visit Bawku where combined army and police personnel in Bawku attacked a village called Buabula. They chased the people into their homes.
They even called somebody to come out of his room and ordered him to run, then, shot at him. They burnt foodstuff, vehicles, motorcycle and whatever they could on sight. These incidents detract from peacekeeping.
Mr Speaker, last year too, you are aware, the police in Kumasi went to Islamic Senior High School and chased

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young girls into their dormitories and beat them up. We are aware of what happened in Ejura where people lost their lives. We are aware of what happened in Wa where a soldier lost his phone through one person, about 60/70 soldiers in Wa went to the town and took the township hostage, brutalising people and seizing things here and there. The point I am making is that these incidents do not help the image of the Ghana Armed Forces to whom we owe a lot.

Mr Speaker, fortunately, the Hon Minister for Defence is in the Chamber. I think we should look into it and find out why the military is degenerating into this armed conflict? Is it the quality of people we recruit that is the problem or the type of training they receive? Does the training that they go through not include civic education and basic constitutional and human rights? Is it that when they go to keep peace, they become frustrated or is it that when they go to keep peace, they want to use humans to experiment their training because we are not in a war front?

Mr Speaker, there must be some justification for the activities that they embark on these days, and I think this

should be a national concern for us all — that people we have spent so much to train, buy uniforms, and arms for are now turning their weapons on innocent civilians rather than keeping peace and protecting the people of this country. This is a national issue that we must all be concerned about. It is pathetic and does not augur well for the future of this country.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Ranking Member,

Mr Agalga, said Bawku is in the

spotlight now, and the Government must

pay attention to the events in Bawku

because of the threats of the jihadist

extremists and armed robbers from

Burkina Faso and neighbouring Togo.

Mr Speaker, about two weeks ago,

jihadists attacked some villages

bordering my constituency and 12

thousand Burkinabe refugees ran into my

constituency. Earlier, some had run into

Bawku Central Constituency. So, if we

are not careful, one day, we would be

overwhelmed. Bawku has become very

vulnerable, not just to the Kusasis,

Mamprusis and other tribes living there,

but to the whole of this country, and that

is why I support the call that the issue in

Bawku has taken a national character,

not a district or ethnic one. It is a national

issue we must all be committed to;

otherwise, we would say “Had I known” at the end of the day, and as we all know,

“Had I known is always at last”. We must pay particular attention to that.

Mr Speaker, the Government has

adopted several measures which have failed. First, we have the peacekeeping officers there made up of the Police and Armed Forces. Second, curfew has been imposed for two years now. Third, the riding of motorcycles has been banned in Bawku Township such that people cannot do their businesses again — no transport.

Third, the riding of motorcycles has

been banned in Bawku Township such

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that people cannot do their businesses

again, because there is no transport.

Fourth, the wearing of smocks has even

been banned in Bawku. For the past two

years, there has not been wearing of

smocks, because they thought that if one

wears a smock, they might hide a

weapon there. Riding of motorcycles has

also been banned, because they thought

that if one rides a motorcycle, they might

go to a place where a car cannot go, and

attack or cause troubles.

The combined effect of this is not

helping the situation; the conflict is

rather escalating than being mitigated.

That means that these steps have failed.

If the steps have failed, then let us go

back to the drawing board and find out

what the problem is. I think that we

should find out what they are fighting for

and what can be done, so that what they

are fighting for can be given to them.

They claim that it is a chieftaincy matter,

but there are no chieftaincy institutions

in Bawku. Since 1958, the Court of

Appeal and in 2003, 20 years ago, the

Supreme Court have declared that the

current Bawku Naaba is the right fellow

to be the chief of Bawku, so the case has

been judicially decided in my respectful

view. What is happening now is

disrespect for due process and disregard

for the rule of law.

His Excellency the President has taken

an oath to uphold the Constitution, to

respect due process and to uphold the

rule of law, so we need political will and

commitment to be engaged in this

exercise to bring peace and normalcy to

Bawku. We need political will and

commitment to solve this problem,

because all the measures of

peacekeeping, such as no wearing of

smock, no riding of motorcycles et

cetera, have failed and people are dying

every day. Last night, three people were

shot at and killed in addition to the 10

that were killed about a week ago. For

how long can we continue to have this?

Bawku is not a good example of the

peaceful country of Ghana that we know

of.

I humbly pray that the Government and

all of us as a country would wake up and

find ways of solving the problem. It is

not a big issue. People must be told in the

face that the rule of law and due process

must be respected. In the absence of due

process and the rule of law, then we do

not have a country.

So I would like to associate myself with

the sentiments expressed by Hon members

who spoke previously and say that there

is a clarion call that there is urgency on

the part of the Government to address the

insecurity in Bawku, because at the end

of the day, we are all unhappy about it.

I would also like to calm nerves. I urge both Kusasis, Mamprusis and their sympathisers that no amount of killing can give them what they want. They cannot become a chief by killing people or burning houses. So, we must co-exist, because there is a lot in common between the people there. Bawku used to be a town that everybody wanted to go to, but now nobody wants to go to Bawku. It is a deserted town: Banks have closed; schools have closed; health facilities have been run down, because nurses and doctors have left. So, I think

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that it is a national case. Bawku has become a national appeal for us to undertake, because nothing good is taking place there.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Yes, Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
Deputy Majority Leader (Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the Statement ably made by our Hon Colleague whose constituency is affected by this conflict.
Mr Speaker, if I heard the Hon Member for Pusiga, Ms Laadi Ayii Ayamba right, she said the conflict is over 40 years. On page 3 of the Statement, these are the words of the Hon Member who made the Statement which I would like to echo for our collective consideration:
“Both in the township and the outskirts of Bawku, we now have evidence that the operational style of the Military has evolved to include shooting and killing citizens that they have been tasked to protect. I wish to condemn all such reckless killings. I equally condemn any act of killing by all the factions themselves in the conflict in Bawku.”
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who
made the Statement is condemning the
killing by the factions themselves. This
must be emphasised that the faction
themselves are killing each other, and
that is not right. He again goes ahead to
say: “No one has legal authority to deprive any innocent citizen of his life.”
Again, the Hon Member who made the
Statement is telling us of the behaviour
of individuals that affect law and order.
He again said that:
“It is unacceptable that youth have drawn lines that cannot be crossed
by the other factions.”
This is a very serious matter. On this
matter, the Hon Member who made the
Statement did not talk about the lack of
political will, but the situation of how the
factions themselves, how the youth are
making life difficult. This is coming
from the Hon Member of Parliament for
the base —

Hon
Leader, kindly hold on. The Statement
made by Hon Member for Bawku
Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, is about
the Military. If it was about one faction,
I would have recognised you, so I have
admitted four from your Side. I was
actually going to give the opportunity to
the Hon Minister, but there appears to be
pressure coming that I should give it to
another faction. Please, on this occasion,
there is no factionalism. It is about the
military, so let us deal with the Military.
Hon Leader, kindly continue.

Mr Speaker, the
Hon Member who made the Statement
concedes that the factions in this conflict
are making life very difficult for law and
order to be enforced, and he is very clear

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in his language without any ambiguity.

So, routing this through the earlier

comment by the Hon Member for

Pusiga, Ms Ayamba, I dare disagree with

the submission which created an

impression that there is no political will

to solve the problem. That should not

come into play, because the Hon

Member who made the Statement clearly

defines the remit of the conflict. He said

that the youth are lawless, they have

drawn the line and are making it difficult

for law enforcement to do its work, and

the youth are killing themselves. These

were the words of the Hon Member who

made the Statement, and he said that it is

not one-sided.

I would like to go on with the analysis

of the Statement further. Again, it said

that:

“Those in the township must live in freedom and be able to travel out

in safety. Those in the outskirts of

Bawku must also freely access the

central township. Let me also

condemn the actions of those who

have mounted road blocks in the

past in the environs of Bawku and

the North East Region and

engaged in armed attack of

travellers from Bawku. We should

be a community governed by laws

and not the night of guns.”

Mr Speaker, these words must catch

our attention, as legislators. These are

the observations of the Hon Member of

Parliament of the constituency that is

under siege by the very people

themselves, according to him. We cannot

as legislators, engage in a blame-game

here, that it is the National Democratic

Congress (NDC) against the New

Patriotic Party (NPP). No! This is not an

NDC or NPP matter. This is not a matter

of the Government against Opposition

nor vice-versa. From the words of the

Hon Member who made the Statement,

the individuals are making life difficult.

I wonder how the Municipal Chief

Executive (MCE) is functioning, I

wonder how the Regional Minister is

doing his work, and I wonder how the

Assembly Members are working there,

especially when the Hon Member who

made the Statement said that the

members of the community are not

cooperating, and he is urging them to

cooperate with the Military, government

officials, their chiefs, other opinion

leaders and even Committees of

Parliament that may have the honour of

visiting there to work with them for

peace.

So, whether they are Kusasi or

Mamprusi, the Hon Member who made

the Statement has told us that their

actions are costing lives and property and

causing poverty. The Hon Member who

made the Statement has also told us that

these are ‘own goals'. He is not talking about outsiders getting in.

Mr Speaker, having made this point, I

would now talk about the infiltration,

that terrorists would now take advantage

and enter because the house is under fire

caused by the members of the household

themselves, according to the Hon

Member who made the Statement.

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I would conclude by saying that in

spite of provocation, the Military must

know that the lives of citizens of this

country, no matter what, matter.

However, the citizens must also

cooperate with law enforcement. This is

very important. Bawku is part of Ghana,

and we cannot allow that spot to continue

to burn while people are calling for

roads, asking for schools and hospitals.

If Bawku is burning, can we build the

schools? Can a doctor accept posting to

Bawku? Can a nurse accept posting to

Bawku? Or, even if somebody is injured,

would the nurse have the courage to treat

the person or a doctor have the courage

to attend to the person? These are matters

for our consideration.

Mr Speaker, therefore, this calls for

our very reasonable approach to the

problem, not to be very emotional, and

not to attempt to even do politics with it

and by extension attack the Government.

It is for us to fashion out what it takes to

ensure peace in Bawku since the Hon

Member who made the Statement has

told us the source of the problem, and

disclosed what is causing this problem to

escalate and what is making Government

intervention difficult. I thank him for

being candid. I rest my case without

more.

Mr Speaker, with your
kind permission, please allow Mr Seidu
Issifu, the Hon Member of Parliament
for Nalerigu/Gambaga to conclude on
our behalf. The reason is simple: he
shares the position of Mr Mahama
Ayariga, who has eloquently spoken
about the situation, but more importantly
because he is in that area, and I think his
voice must be heard on this issue due to
its sensitivities.

Hon
Member, I believe you should assist us to
manage the House. Unless he is going to
add to the facts, the issue is the same.
This is not intended to give people the
opportunity to show their faces. You can
always use the backroom press
conferences, but on the Floor, let us
please work together.

Mr Speaker, I am
adding to the facts. I would like to
appreciate this huge opportunity you
have given to me to contribute to this
Statement on the Floor. I would also like
to associate myself with the Statement
made by Mr Ayariga. I see that it has to
do with fairness; it is not about one tribe.
He spoke about Military brutality, which
I share in. This is because under what
circumstance would a 12-year-old boy
who is in a food bank be killed, and for
what reason should that infant be killed?
Mr Speaker, it is a worrying situation,
and I think that we have to look at it on a
broader perspective. That is not the only
issue that Mr Ayariga spoke about. It is
not an isolated situation in Bawku, so if
we want to look at it, we have to find a
way to broaden the outlook, to look at
instances of insecurity, not only from the
Military, but Police brutality as well and
how we can bring justice to people who
unlawfully take arms and kill others.
Mr Speaker, on 26th December, 2021,
one Baba Razak from Gambaga, and

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another Iddrisu Issifu, were enroute to

Kulungugu to do business. These two

gentlemen were transporting a horse — they deal in horses — from Gambaga to Kulungugu to sell. On the way, they got

to Bugri Conna, and these gentlemen

were intercepted. They were beaten,

mutilated and burnt to ashes, and the

horse taken away.

Mr Speaker, these insecurity

situations have been there for a very long

time, and nothing has been done. No

arrest has been made to that effect. So,

we have to be concerned, and I share in

the pain and the feeling that this is a

national crisis, and we must look at it

from the broader perspective. Those two

gentlemen were innocent. They did not

provoke anybody; they were just going

to do their business, and they were

intercepted.

Mr Speaker, I call on this House to

institute a committee to investigate some

of these matters. This is because right

now, nobody can move from

Nalerigu/Gambaga through Garu to

Bawku because one does that at the peril

of his life. Therefore, I would like to use

this opportunity to share in the view that

we would have to have a committee to go

into this matter. Some of these cases

must be brought to bear. We must

investigate and get to the bottom, find the

perpetrators, and bring them to book.

The horse is still with them. The one who

is holding the horse is responsible for the

brutality of these innocent men.

Therefore, I think that we have to

broaden the outlook and see what we can

do to bring a lasting solution to this

matter.

Mr Speaker, before this incident,

Bawku used to be the hub of business

between Togo, Burkina Faso, and

Ghana. Business was quite brisk in this

community until we began to see this

conflict rearing its ugly head. Therefore,

it is something that Parliament must be

concerned about, and we should make

sure that, if we would set up a committee

to go into the matter, we should broaden

it and get to the bottom of it.

Mr Speaker, right now, people cannot

go to farms. Food insecurity is rearing its

head in this enclave of our country.

Businesses are collapsing in this enclave

of our country. As for loss of lives, we

cannot even talk about that; very

innocent lives—women and children—

are being killed day in, day out. So, there

is the need for us to step up our security

arrangements in Bawku so that we can

have a lasting solution.

Mr Speaker, chieftaincy conflict

cannot be cured in the court. There is no

solution to chieftaincy conflict in court.

Parliament should urge the Government

to refer this matter to the traditional

authorities to look at it. That is where we

can jaw-jaw and have a solution to this

matter. Until we sit at the roundtable to

negotiate this matter for us to trade off,

we can never have a lasting solution to

this matter. No court has ruled that one

particular person is the chief of Bawku.

We do not have that evidence. That is

why these matters must be transferred to

the traditional authorities to look at.

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Mr Speaker, on this note, I would like

to thank the Hon Member who made this

Statement for coming out with — [Inaudible] — to put our security apparatus out there to do their work and

protect life and property. I thank you

very much for giving me this

opportunity.

Mr Dominic B. A. Nitiwul — rose —

Yes, Hon
Minister, your men are accused of
brutalising the residents of Bawku. What
do you say?

Hon
Minister. Yes?
Minister for Defence (Mr Dominic
B. A. Nitiwul) (MP): Mr Speaker, thank
you very much for the opportunity to
respond to this particular Statement. I
speak with a lot of experience because I
have lived virtually my entire life, in an
area where there has always been
conflict. I was five (5) years old when the
first conflict started in my area. By the
time I got to 19 years, there was another
conflict, and a third conflict when I was
20 years. I have seen how soldiers
operate, I have seen how the Police
operate, and I have seen how combatants
operate. So sincerely, I speak with that
experience, hence, I am very impartial
when it comes to issues of Bawku and
surroundings. I am happy that of the two
Hon Members from the opposing Side
who spoke, one believes that the
chieftaincy matter has been settled; Hon
Ayariga, and the Hon Member for
Navelegu believes that the chieftaincy
matter has never been settled — [Interruption] — that is what he said. He said no court has ruled in Ghana — Hon Ayariga believes that the court has ruled
and it has been settled, and that is the
source of the conflict.
Mr Speaker, if Hon Members of
Parliament, who represent people are
here, and they have divergent views,
which can kill people, that is the source
of the conflict. But what do we do?
Soldiers have now been put in the middle
of this conflict. We should remember
that the soldiers are human beings like
us, and they have now been put in the
middle of this conflict. However, there
has been a political will from the Nana
Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo Government.
So, let it not be said that there has not been
political will. The then Hon Minister for
Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, the
Hon Member for Ahanta-West, went to
Bawku, and made the people of Bawku
aware that as long as the Bawku Naaba
is part of the Regional and the National
House of Chiefs, we in Government will
recognise him as the legitimate Bawku
Naaba.
Mr Speaker, that is the first time a
government in our history has done that.
No other government in our history has
ever done that, so let it be known by
those who think that there is no political
will that there has been political will
from this Side of the House.
Secondly, Mr Speaker, I went to
Bawku with the Hon Minister for the
Interior. In fact when I got to Bawku, I

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called the Hon Member for the Bawku

Central Constituency and told him that

we were going to his constituency, hence

we would be happy for him to

accompany us. He told me that he was in

Nigeria so he wished us well. However,

when he came, he did not get back to me

to hear what happened — [Interruption]—

Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza — rose —

Mr Speaker, and I told
them — the Hon Member on his feet is now the Hon Chief Whip of the Minority
Side. He is now on the Front Bench, so
he should tone down on his desire to rise
like this. I have sat at that Side before. I
went there and both of us met the people
of Bawku, both at the Bawku Naaba
palace and at the Mamprugu side. We
told them point blank that there is a
Bawku Naaba in place and anybody who
feels that it is not so should go to
court. The Mamprusis said that they
would go to court, and for that
matter, we pledged among ourselves
that everybody would lay down their
arms. We pledged that there
would not be any fight, and for two
months, not a single gunshot was heard in
Bawku. So, I would want to believe, and
we have taken the position that what is
happening in Bawku today is not about
chieftaincy; it is criminality. Certain
criminals are operating, and so the officials
of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) should
deal with them as pure criminals.
I would want the Hon Members of
Parliament to let their people know that
we are dealing with them as pure
criminals. There is nothing called the
“Bawku chieftaincy”. There is a legitimate Chief of Bawku. The
Mamprusis have said they would go to
court — the Nayeris have also said they would go to court and challenge the
matter. That is all that we know. We
would want Hon Members to assist us if
they have voices there — which I know they do — They should let the voices know that there is not —
Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
— rose —

Yes, Hon
Deputy Minority Leader, what is the
matter?

Mr Speaker, my respected
Hon Member, the Hon Minister for
Defence was really on the right track, but
his speech at the latter part is generating
debate. This is a Statement, so we do not
want the Hon Minister, in his
contribution to generate a debate, and he
knows what to do —

Kindly
tell me what you —

The Hon Minister must
focus on the issue that has been raised;
the killing of the people of Bawku
Central. He can talk about the root
causes, but he should not generate
debate.

Kindly
leave that to me. I would moderate it.
Yes, Hon Minister?

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Mr Speaker, the issues I
mentioned are germaine to the issues
raised by the Hon Member; he knows. If
not, we should just seek his advice, and
he would tell us that the issues I
mentioned are what would cure the
issues of Bawku. We should ask him,
and he would tell us. This is a House of
records. People are going to take the
statements I am making and dissect
them. If as an Hon Minister for Defence,
I am not prepared to tell the truth, the
Bawku issues can never be resolved. I
would tell the truth as it is. I would not
stand here and not tell the truth. I was in
Bawku to say what I am saying today.
So, I asked them in Bawku, “What at all are you fighting for?” It is not about chieftaincy, so when they take to assault
rifles — Bawku is awashed with assault rifles. Rifles that should be held by the
men and women of the Ghana Armed
Forces, young civilians are holding them
and shooting as if there is no tomorrow.
Mr Speaker, if Ghana Armed Forces
does not treat Bawku as a special case, it
would lead to problems in this country.
That is how the issue of Nigeria started
and unfortunately, some people treated it
with kid gloves, and today, we have
Boko Haram in Nigeria, and nobody can
control it.
Mr Speaker, the matter the Hon
Member of Parliament raised is under
investigations by the Ghana Police
Service. The Military has released a
statement, the people have made
statements, and the Ghana Police Service
is investigating them. We are awaiting
the outcome of that investigation. In fact,
the Hon Member of Parliament has taken
the issue to the Commission for Human
Rights and Administrative Justice
(CHRAJ) already, and they are also
investigating the matter. So, two State
bodies are already investigating this
particular matter. However, is it not
curious that anybody in this world would
condemn members of the Ghana Armed
Forces and believe that it is possible for
the officials of the Ghana Armed Forces
to tie the hands of the civilians and shoot
them in broad day light in the presence
of other people, when in today's world, somebody could record them? Do we
think that anybody would do that? I am
not saying that what the Hon Member
has said is a lie. He said that it was
eyewitnesses who gave that report. We
should think of it — members of the Ghana Armed Forces know — Hon Members of Parliament would realise
that when they are campaigning, the
moment they start talking, people would
be holding their mobile phones. They
have seen it, so do they believe that if it
were so, those videos would not have
been out by now? I plead with us that we
should be cautious and treat everybody
as innocent until they are proven guilty.
So, I would want to plead with Hon
Members of Parliament not to start
condemning the acts and believe that it is
a true story just because eyewitnesses
have said that. We should wait till the
evidence comes out. I can assure us that
because this is the highest crime that
anybody could commit; it is a war crime.
The members of the Ghana Armed
Forces are not trained for that. They have
earned the highest praise across the
world — both in this country and outside this country. So, it is very sad for

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anybody to paint the picture that officials

of the Ghana Armed Forces are capable

of tying the hands of four individuals,

shooting them, and leaving them to die.

Mr Speaker, if I were to take the

Statement made by my Hon Colleague,

his own Statement does not support the

views of the eyewitnesses. He says that

the five people who were executed

include the following — At first, he said six but has corrected it to five. The first

person is Akudugu Bugnaba Karim. The

eyewitnesses say that Bugnaba Karim

was chased by the Military using

armoured vehicles and people on foot. I

am just analysing his Statement. At no

point did the Hon Member for Bawku

conclude that Karim was killed because

his arms were tied at his back.

Mr Speaker, if you read on Abunbiana

Madi, Kassim Issah, Ndeegi Mumuni

and Haruna Kudus, even though the Hon

Member started by saying that they were

tied and killed, at no point did he

conclude in his Statement that these

people were tied and killed with their

hands behind them.

It is true that these people were killed

and I sent condolences on my behalf, the

Military, as well as the Ghana Armed

Forces to the families. However, he

should let the report of the investigations

come out first.

Mr Buah — rose —

Mr Speaker, secondly,
one would ask, what are the facts of the
case? The night preceding the day that
this incident happened —

Hon
Deputy Minority Leader, with all due
respect, kindly let him finish.

The night preceding the
day that this incident happened, there
was a 10-hour battle in Bawku that day. There was shooting throughout the entire
Bawku township that night. I would like
Hon Members to sit down and digest
that. The whole night, there was shooting
in Bawku and the soldiers kept engaging
various factions at various times. Does
anybody think that it is possible that
young children in the early hours of the
morning could be out witnessing people
shooting when there was shooting
throughout the entire night?
Mr Buah — rose —

Unfortunately, however,
the integrity of the Armed Forces who
are to protect you and I has been
shredded into pieces. It is the biggest and
the —

Hon
Minister, hold on. Hon Deputy Minority
Leader, kindly refer me to what you were
drawing my attention to.

Mr Speaker, the Hon
Minister is impugning the integrity of the
Hon Member who made the Statement.
So, Mr Speaker, I rise on Order 93(2) of
the Standing Orders. It reads:

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(2) “It shall be out of order to use offensive, abusive, insulting,

blasphemous or unbecoming

words or to impute improper

motives to any other Member or to

make personal allusions.”

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member of

Parliament has just given a Statement to

describe the incident. The Hon Minister

for Defence in his contribution can speak

to that Statement but to impugn or to

imply that somehow the Statement has

questioned the man's own credibility in that contribution is completely out of

order. The Hon Minister has not been

there while the Hon Member who made

the Statement has been there.

Hon
Deputy Minority Leader hold on. I just
want to understand that your objection is
that the Hon Minister is impugning the
— I do not know whether I would want anyone to respond to that. The Hon
Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama
Ayariga, did not say that he witnessed
anything himself. What he said was that
it was an eyewitness account.
Now, this is the integrity of the Ghana
Armed Forces that has been touted to the
whole world in the cameras. The Hon
Minister is saying that you should
analyse the eyewitness account that you
have been given, and you would find that
there are inconsistencies in it. Do you
think that he should not be able to say
that? I disagree with you.
Hon Minister, please continue.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker, let me repeat that prior to
the incident, there was a 10-hour battle in
Bawku. Remember the first statement I
made that Bawku is not about chieftaincy
any longer? That is why we have Kusasis
and Mamprusis in Garu yet they are not
fighting. That is why we have Kusasis
and Mamprusis just 10 kilometres in
Binduri and they are not fighting. That is
why we have Kusasis in his constituency
and they are not fighting. That is why we
have Kusasis in Timpani, her
constituency, and they are not fighting.
Kusasis and Mamprusis are not fighting.
Mr Speaker, in Pusiga, which is also
another 15 or 20 kilometres away, they
are not fighting. We have close to 5000
Mamprusis living in Bagabaga and
Nalerigu yet, they are not fighting. In his
own constituency, they are not fighting.
It is confined to Bawku township alone.
If it were purely chieftaincy, it would
have spread to all these constituencies
and by now, they would be killing each
other in these places. However, I would
like to applaud both tribes that they have
taken the chieftaincy issues out of this
matter and they have said that they
would take it to court so that the Military,
the Police and the security agencies can
deal with this as a purely criminal matter.
If we are to deal with it in that sense, we
should analyse Bawku in these three
incidents:
i. There was a chieftaincy issue but it has been resolved.
ii. The aftermath of the chieftaincy issues, though mixed with this
issue, has also been resolved.

Statements

iii. The threat of terrorism hanging around Ghana through the

corridors of Bawku.

So, the security agencies are working

within Bawku and its precincts with the

mindset that if we do not stop what is

happening in Bawku now, we risk the

situation where Ghana could be thrown

under terrorist attacks.

Mr Speaker, for the first time, an

improvised explosive device was used

three days ago in this country to try to

blow a bridge. Do not let us joke with

Bawku. I sympathise with the family,

and I believe we should call for the

investigations. Trust me, we should not

joke with even the young men and

women who are operating in Bawku.

How on earth can any Ghanaian

improvise an explosive device and blow

a bridge? Since the Hon Member says he

went there, he should go back and see the

type of bridge that they tried to blow off.

That is exactly how terrorists operate.

Mr Speaker, let us be very careful.

Yesterday, even when he wanted to

make a Statement, he reported the matter

to CHRAJ, and when he went on air

talking about this matter, just in front of

a Police station some unknown people in

a tricycle — what is referred to as “yellow-yellow”, drove towards a group of people sitting down, and started

spraying them with an assault rifle. This

led to the death of two people. This

dawn, women who were moving with

tomatoes in their car were also attacked

and shot at. As a result, a woman is dead.

People of other tribes that have nothing

to do with this matter are dead. Mr

Speaker, let us be very careful about the

people we choose to speak for in Bawku.

I want to plead with Hon Members.

Mr Speaker, I can say that the

Government on its part has done what it

has to do to ensure that Bawku is

peaceful. As we sit today, we have

created 11th Mechanised Battalion in

Bawku. So, we have 400 soldiers in

Bawku today, and that is the first

solution we have provided. Today in

Bawku, we have moved from about 50

soldiers to about 400 soldiers. Mr

Speaker, we are sending a task force just

for only Bawku. No more counter-fixing.

Another 500 soldiers have been sent to

Bawku. This is because of the threat of

terrorism. These soldiers could have

been free to do other activities, but we

are doing that next week. That is why I

told the Hon Member for Bawku Central,

Mr Mahama Ayariga, to come to the

office so that we sit with the Military

High Command and discuss it. I said this

three days ago — that was on Monday. Maybe if we had sat to discuss issues,

this Statement would not have been

made.

Yes, Hon
Member for Bawku Central?

Mr Speaker,
the Hon Minister for Defence has made
certain statements which are personal to
me. The first is about him inviting me to
join him on a mission to Bawku. As he
said, I was outside the country. More
than a year after the people of Bawku had
been killing one another, he called me

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and said that he was going to Bawku.

That was the first time he went to

Bawku, and it is on record. It was more

than a year and until the soldiers

complained, the Hon Ministers for

Defence, and the Interior had never

visited Bawku, but I brought the

complaint to him. However, now, he sits

in the Chamber and tells me that the

soldiers and Police complained that their

respective Hon Ministers never visited

them. They were sent to Bawku, and

were exposed to death but the Hon

Ministers never set foot there to see

them.

Mr Speaker, we must not make

personal statements in the House. I have

sat down quietly and listened, not

because I do not have responses. Why

were the people killed? I am pleading

with the Hon Minister for Defence to go

to Bawku and see with his naked eyes.

Mr Speaker, I would kindly like to ask

my Hon Colleagues whether I have ever

opened my mouth in this Chamber to

speak about Bawku for the past two

years. We could confirm from the Hon

Member for Asawase, Alhaji

Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, and the

Hon Member for Zebilla, Mr Cletus

Apul Avoka, that I have fought attempts

that have been made on several

occasions to make Statements on Bawku.

I told the House that the situation in

Bawku is very dangerous; soldiers, who

are people's children, have been sent there to die for us. They would make

mistakes but we do not have to hang

them on any single mistake they make. I

have defended the soldiers.

Mr Speaker, however, on this

occasion, I went there and saw that there

was no basis for killing those people,

which is why I am speaking today. I am

not choosing to speak for only Kusasis. I

understand everything that the Hon

Minister for Defence said in his last

statement that he made that we should be

careful who we speak for. I do not speak

for Kusasis only. I speak because people

that ought not to have been killed have

been killed.

Mr Speaker, the person that the Hon

Minister mentioned in his statement

yesterday, 7th February, 2023, to have

been surrounded, shot and killed was my

cousin. However, I have not spoken

about it in the House. I have been on the

phone since morning. I know every

incident that the Hon Minister has

reported to the House. I know that I have

tried my own way to prevent them.

Mr Speaker, I was on the phone with

my uncles among the Mamprusis this

morning, discussing how we should

resolve this matter. It is not everything I

go on air to say. So, the Hon Minister

should kindly not import improper

motives. These killings — I call them killings — were done by soldiers needlessly. The soldiers have killed

people. We could confirm from

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Mintah-

Agyemang that when the soldiers kill

people, I call him, we discuss and resolve

it. A Mamprusi was shot and killed, and

I called him to enquire. He responded

that the victim held a weapon, and said

that I should tell my boys that he would

gun down anybody he sees holding a

weapon. I also responded that there was

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nothing I could say if he guns down

someone for holding a weapon.

Mr Speaker, this time, the Hon

Minister says he liquidated and

neutralised six people, and I asked for the

weapons that were with the six people,

but there was not even one. The Hon

Minister said in his Statement that only

one person had a cutlass. I would like to

find out from the Hon Minister what he

expects someone in a garden to hold if

not a cutlass.

Mr Speaker, I have struggled through

this conflict to manage and navigate it. I

have been very supportive and the Hon

Minister for Defence knows that. The

Hon Minister met me in Salaga two days

ago at a funeral we both attended. He

asked me to come to his office to discuss

the situation in Bawku and I replied that

I was available, so he should call me

when he was ready. After the funeral, I

went to Tamale and had a meeting with

the Northern Command of the Ghana

Army. The Lieutenant Colonel could

confirm this.

Mr Speaker, so, the Hon Minister

should not create the impression that I

am not helpful —

Hon
Member, very well. You have responded
to the comment by the Hon Minister.

Mr Speaker, I sat
patiently for ten minutes for the Hon
Member for Bawku Central to interject
and try to interpret the statement I made
in his own way. So, I would like to plead
that no Hon Member interjects me.
Mr Speaker, it is not true that the
conflict started a year before I visited
Bawku. Secondly, we did not send
soldiers a year later because of the
conflict. That is not true. We created the
11 Mechanised Infantry Battalion and
started posting soldiers there as their
permanent bases, and they do their work.
I visit all battalions as and when I and the
Military High Command believe that it is
necessary for me to visit.
Mr Speaker, secondly, I did not go to
Bawku immediately. I called the people
of Bawku to Tamale, met them, and in
fact, I advised the Hon Member that they
should not be part of that meeting.
Mr Speaker, thirdly, when I say that
we should be careful who we choose to
defend, it is not about tribe. I said it in
the context of the fact that the issue in
Bawku is more of criminality than
chieftaincy, so we should be careful who
we defend. It is not about tribe; I never
talked about tribe.
Mr Speaker, between 31st December,
2022 and now, over 30 people have died
from the situation in Bawku. So, we
should be very careful who we defend
because Bawku is no more the Bawku
we used to know about two or three years
ago. Times have changed.
Mr Speaker, however, I would just like
to say that we should all help to pluck all
the loopholes and cure the issues of
Bawku because it could lead Ghana into
an abyss where terrorists could use to
infiltrate into the country. So, we need to
help the Military and security agencies
so that the boys could lay down their

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arms and silence the guns. We need to

use our voices and influence to appeal to

them to silence the guns. We need to use

our influence as Hon Members of

Parliament to appeal to the people to lift

the artificial boundaries that have been

created in Bawku. They know what I

mean by the artificial boundaries that

have been created. We need to use our

influence to allow people to go to their

farms unhindered and without being

shot; to go to the markets to trade

unhindered; and to travel freely in and

out of Bawku without being

accompanied by soldiers. We need to use

our influence to tell the boys to sell the

AK-47 and machine guns they have so

we could use them to do business,

instead of killing one another. That is

what we should use our influence for.

Mr Speaker, as for the 10 people who

have died, as I said before, I would like

to give the Ghana Armed Forces the

benefit of the doubt now until

investigations prove otherwise. I would

like to say that the law of Ghana is very

clear that one is innocent until proven

guilty. The investigations are being

carried out.

I would like to give the House the

assurance that anyone that is found guilty

would be punished. However, let all of

us work carefully and conscientiously to

build Bawku into a peaceful area. This is

because the issues of chieftaincy are no

longer there. In fact, by this time, there

should be a situation whereby the Nayiri

and Bawku Naaba could come together

and talk to the youth; this is what we

should be striving at. We should be able

to gather both the Mamprusis and

Kusasis together and say that it is time

for us to forge forward in peace.

Mr Speaker, the hospital and schools

in Bawku are collapsing and the people

who are standing in-between mayhem

and peace are the people that if we are

not careful and we demonise today, we

would have problems. So, I would like

Hon Members of Parliament to rather

help the members of the Ghana Armed

Forces (GAF) to bring peace to Bawku.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon
Members, I have listened to the
Statement.
Hon Majority Leader, did you want to
comment on this one? I thought that after
the Hon Minister —
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-
Mensah-Bonsu): Mr Speaker, just some
observations about where we are. In
lending my voice to the Statement made
by the Hon Member of Parliament for
Bawku Central, I would just want to
dwell on some of the issues that he has
raised and I am quoting the Statement.
First, the last paragraph on the third page
of the Statement says, and with your
permission, I beg to quote:
“I call on all including the youth on both sides of the conflict to respect
the sanctity of lives in Bawku”.
That, indeed, is something that should
engage our attention.

Statements

Second, it says:

“I urge the youth to appreciate that the military was brought in to

protect lives and property in

Bawku”.

That recognition, we should stress.

It says again that:

“The military must also realise that they are dealing with human lives

which they have a duty, first and

foremost, to protect even in trying

circumstances.

Again, that is a statement that should

engage our attention.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who

made the Statement makes another

statement when he says that; “We should not allow the seeds of radicalisation to be

sowed in any of our communities”. A recognition that this is about happening

and, indeed, it is something that, again,

should engage us. It then says, “We should be a community governed by

laws and not the knight of guns”. This is from the Hon Member who made the

Statement. Where are we leading

ourselves to, as a nation? By these

statements, we should all know that

developments at Bawku are in perils.

The Assemblies cannot function

effectively; how do we bring governance

to the doorsteps of the people? What is

happening in Mali and Burkina Faso is

attributable to the fact that government is

seen as a distant administration from the

populace. In Ghana, one of the

intervening factors is that by this concept

of decentralisation, people feel the effect

of government and, indeed, governance

in the districts. If, now, we are disabling

the Assemblies, what is going to happen?

Mr Speaker, we are told that

professionals are fleeing the conflict

zone; people are shot at and have to be

treated at the hospitals and then people

run to the hospital to even attack medical

officers. They will flee the conflict zone;

doctors, nurses and teachers are fleeing.

What that means is that we are all

helping to cultivate a generation that we

would soon characterise as a lost

generation. That should be of concern to

us and that is why he says that we are

radicalising the youth. If they have no

business or work doing, what would

happen? They would chase after guns to

protect themselves in the first place and

also inflict and, indeed, continue

violence. That should be our concern.

Businesses are collapsing, people

cannot go to farms, farming is looming

and soon, if we are not careful, Bawku

would become a dead town and that

would open the window for the radicals

from within and without to enter and

cause violence through that corridor.

That should be our concern.

Mr Speaker, so, after this, what should

be the way forward for us? I thought that

is what we should be engaging in and not

in mere expression. What should be the

way forward? Somebody has suggested

that we should engage Parliament. Is it

the case that we should let the

Committee on Defence and Interior visit

Statements

the place to assess the situation and

report to us as to what Parliament can

do? Yes, to a very great extent, the

chieftaincy issue has been ousted by a

ruling from the court. That is why I was

uncomfortable when my Hon Colleague

said that nothing has come from the

courts. I think he did not get his facts

right; something has come from the

courts and is supposed to help to abate

this chieftaincy issue, and where we are,

we should take it off the table.

However, it is not a problem that could

be attended to by just one person.

Maybe, the next step is to involve some

chiefs, the clergy, some distinguished

Imams, or eminent citizens.

What can we do to put a group of

respected citizens together to go and talk

to the people? I believe this is what we

should be thinking about. Engaging in

blame games will not help. As for what

has happened; the killings of people and

so on, committed by the Military, if we

want to investigate, there is a way of

investigating that. It could be either

through the Military Police or by the

Police aided by the Military. That could

easily be done. Let us not spend too

much time talking about that.

Engagements should be the way forward

for us.

Mr Speaker, a proposal has come that

Parliament could embark on some

inquiry and have a report submitted to us,

but the matter is whether we can

guarantee the security of the Members of

Parliament who would go there if only

they have to go to the ground and not to

be using telescopes to assess the

situation. If they have to go to the

ground, is it safe for them? For now, no.

Listening to the accounts that have been

given by Hon Colleagues, we cannot

guarantee the security of Members of

Parliament if they should go there.

However, if we put together a group of

eminent citizens as I have indicated

involving chiefs, the clergy, Imams and

eminent citizens, perhaps, we could

achieve some results.

So, I would plead that let us focus on

this and if we have any other useful

advice to bring on board, let us do so and

try not by our words and conduct to

escalate the tensions but to douce the

flame.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.

Very well.
Hon Colleagues, there is another
Statement, also on the alleged Military
brutalities. However, let me observe that
from the Statement and its discussions
and contributions, what comes out
clearly is that what is happening in
Bawku now is not just about a
chieftaincy dispute; it has gone beyond
that and now, pure criminal activity has
sipped in. From the narrations on both
Sides of the House, it is probably unsafe
as a community; Bawku is otherwise a
very vibrant community but it is unsafe
now to live and work there for
professionals, traders passing through
and probably, opened up the high risk of
attack by terrorists. From the Hon
Member's Statement, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative

Statements

Justice (CHRAJ) and the Police have

been invited to investigate the specific

allegations and I would encourage that

they should permit them to do that. The

risk of bringing our political scout into

this situation is very high and I would

encourage Hon Members to please keep

out of it and only focus on excesses as

the Hon Member has done. However, we

should be seen to be supportive of the

security agencies because the situation

can escalate and the danger and risk is to

all of us.

Thank you, Hon Member, for the

Statement, and to all who have

contributed but let us all keep in mind

that the risk is not only to Bawku and

those living and passing through there

but also, to all of us. We would ensure

that whatever it takes to ensure safety,

we should put our efforts behind it. I

thank you.

The next Statement is by the Hon

Member for Bibiani Anhwiaso-Bekwai

Constituency, Mr Alfred Obeng-

Boateng. It is also on the alleged Military

brutality. Hon Member, you may

proceed.

Persistent Military Brutalities

within the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-

Bekwai Constituency

Mr
Speaker, I beg to make a Statement on
the persistent Military brutalities in
Bibiani Zongo and Bibiani Old Town,
both in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai
Constituency in the Western North
Region, which is a clear violation of the
inhabitants' right to life as provided under article 13(1) of the 1992
Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, I am sad that I have to
bring to the attention of this august
House that the people of Bibiani Zongo
and Bibiani Old Town in the Bibiani-
Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency no
longer feel safe because of the persistent
Military brutalities in these two
communities.
After Asante Gold took over Bibiani
Gold Mines from Mensin Gold Bibiani
Ltd, the Military stationed at the place
have been consistently brutalising the
people in these two communities, which
are adjacent to the mines, for no apparent
reason. For example, in October 2022,
armed military officers went to the Old
Town community looking for a boy they
claimed had taken some waste materials
dumped nearby the community and
when the residents questioned their
movements in the community which was
scary, they started assaulting them to the
extent that one Fuseini Issah was shot
three times in the leg, rendering him
paralysed.
Mr Speaker, again, just a few weeks
ago, one Mr Jakit Pillar, a native of
Bibiani Zongo, had his motorbike broken
down on the road. While trying to fix it,
the Military came across the scene and
started beating him and left him severely
injured.
Mr Speaker, what has necessitated this
Statement today is that a third incident
happened on Sunday, 5th February, 2023,
where the same Military brutalised some

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of the inhabitants in Bibiani Zongo and

left five of them seriously wounded and

are currently admitted at different

hospitals including Bibiani Government

Hospital for treatment. One sad aspect of

this development is that one of the

victims by name Aziz Karim was shot in

his private part, and I wonder if this

young man can give birth later in life

even if he survives. The Assembly

Member of the Zongo Community, Mr

Abdellah Adams, who was trying to

calm the Military down ended up being

beaten and severely injured as well. The

third person received several bullets in

the leg, and one would wonder whether

the military officers thought they were

on a battle ground.

Mr Speaker, you would be

unpleasantly surprised when you watch

the footages of the manner in which the

military officers deliberately targeted

their victims while shooting. Is it not

strange that our military officers could

mete out such atrocities to unarmed

civilians? If these people's right to life is threatened in their own country, then

there is much to be worried about as

Ghanaians, and the call for

professionalism on the part of the

Military should not be limited to the

people of Bibiani Zongo and Old Town

alone.

Mr Speaker, at this critical point, my

appeal to the House is to direct the Hon

Minister for Defence to order the Military

to stop the brutalities and harassment of

the people in the aforementioned

communities immediately in order to

maintain peace and calm in the area. I

further request that these incidents be

investigated fully and the culprits

punished accordingly while the innocent

victims must be given the adequate

compensation.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

Mr Kofi Amankwa-Manu — rose —

Yes, Hon
Member?

Mr Speaker,
thank you very much for the opportunity
to contribute to the Statement made by
my Hon Colleague, Member of
Parliament (MP) for the Bibiani-
Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency.
The Military as part of its expansion
roles include assisting the civil
authorities to maintain law and order in
the country. All and sundry would agree
with me that over the years, different
governments have been going round the
world attracting investors to come and
invest in this country, and it is only
proper that when investors invest their
moneys in this country, we as a people
would protect their investment. The
situation that the Hon Member is talking
about regarding brutalities meted out to
people in the Bibiani Zongo, in my view,
leaves much to be desired.
Mr Speaker, we have seen footages of
the so-called brutalities and the stories as
presented by the Hon Member as
compared to the video footages do not
gel. These are two different things all
together. How on earth could people just

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go to concessions by the Mensin Gold

Mining Company and then just take

away rock bearing minerals to wherever

they want to take them? If one watches

the footages, people were wielding

cutlasses and provoking the Military; it

is interesting. In my view, I would rather

commend the Military for the

professional way they handled the

situation.

Is it the case that we allow people to

take the law into their own hands

because they think that they have certain

concerns? Mr Speaker, yes, people may

have concerns, but I believe that the best

way to resolve those concerns is not for

people to take the law into their own

hands. The Military cannot sit and fold

their arms while people take the laws

into their own hands. The Military were

there rendering a legitimate service to the

gold mine on the authority of the

Ministry of Defence.

I can understand, and I share in the

concerns of the Hon Member, but I think

that the people of Bibiani Zongo must

also know that we have laws in this

country. As long as we are prepared to

invite investors to this country, Ghana

will continue to protect their

investments. Please, let us not take the

Military for a joke. I share in the

concerns of the Hon Member, but I

believe that it is about time that we let

every Ghanaian know that we have laws

in this country and are governed by laws,

so nobody should dare to take the

Military for a ride.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member asked

for compensation. We believe that our

soldiers are well trained and

professional. Is it not laughable that

soldiers that are well trained and

professional will just go about, see

people fixing their motorbike, and

without any shred of provocation, they

will just start shooting indiscriminately?

For me, this calls for a lot of questions

and answers. Listening to my Hon

Colleague's Statement, I really wondered how certain things could be

done by an Armed Forces that is well

trained and are professionals.

Mr Speaker, as the Hon Deputy

Defence Minister, I believe in the

professionalism and training of our

soldiers. Yes, they are a human

institution, so every now and then, we

may have excesses, but I do not think

that any Ghanaian soldier, so well

trained, will go out of his way — and I repeat, will go out of his way — just to indiscriminately shoot at people. That for

me, is something I find difficult to accept

and believe. Be as it may, yes, it is only

proper that in times like this, we all look

at how best we can support the Ghana

Armed Forces to do the best for our

nation. The Armed Forces have carved a

reputation for themself, so some times, I

find it difficult to accept the fact that

some people may want to denigrate their

reputation — that is the only Armed Forces that we have, and the world over,

the Armed Forces is being seen as an

institution that is held high in esteem. So

we as Ghanaians must be proud of what

we have. Yes, if there is anything wrong,

we could come together collectively as a

people to build the Armed Forces.

Statements

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I

would like to thank you for the

opportunity to contribute to this

Statement.

Mr Speaker, ordinarily, I would
not have spoken on this matter, but
listening to views and comments from
Hon Colleagues, and knowing that this is
not the first time issues of Military
brutalities have been reported in this
country, and also accepting the fact that
we have only this Military to protect us,
we will not intentionally say things in
this House that would derail their efforts.
Mr Speaker, however, we had the
incident that took place in Ejura, which
led to loss of lives; we had that of a
missing phone in Wa, where persons
were beaten; the earlier Statement about
Bawku has just been commented on, and
now another one from Bibiani. It is true
that the Military is the only institution
that we have in this country to protect us
all. Just maybe, we must start reviewing
deployment of the Military for some of
these civic responsibilities. This is
because listening to the Hon Member for
Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga,
and listening to the response from the
Hon Minister for Defence, the issue of
cutlass holding came up. Now, again,
another cutlass. Is it now an offence to
even hold a cutlass if you are a farmer?
This is because for some of us, we come
from farming constituencies and our
constituents would necessarily be
holding cutlasses for their activities, so
one day, if the Military happen to be
passing around there and they find them,
they may consider these cutlasses as
assault rifles, and it may turn into
something else.
Mr Speaker, ordinarily, knowing me
and my position about the Military, I
would not be contributing and speaking
to this matter, but it is becoming too
many and something must be done. The
Hon Minister for Defence and the Hon
Deputy Minister for Defence who are
both in the House, and the Commanders
should review the protocols and the
engagements that the Military would
have with civilians when they are
involved in some of these civic
operations which are outside their
domain. We are not in a war situation
where just the mere holding of a cutlass
— not even a cape gun, a double barrel gun, or a single barrel gun — would resort in the kind of assault that we see
and witness in the videos that they talked
about. Yes, the Hon Ministers have a
responsibility to defend the truth, but
sometimes, when they over defend, the
civilians they are supposed to protect and
who should hold them high, also lose
confidence in them which results in all
kinds of situations.

Mr Speaker, I would like to
commend the Hon Member who made
the Statement, Mr Alfred Obeng
Boateng, on the Military brutalities of
the people of Bibiani Zongo and Bibiani
Old Town.
Mr Speaker, the Military personnel are
our wives, brothers, sisters, friends, and
everything.

Their mandate is to protect lives and

properties; therefore, they must learn to

co-exist with the civilian cooperation in

Bibiani.

Mr Speaker, I, therefore, support the

call to investigate the military brutalities

in Bibiani. I suggest that this honourable

House refers this matter to the Ministry

of Defence or the Committee on Defence

and Interior for investigation to bring this

matter to an end.

Mr Speaker, thank you for
the opportunity to contribute to the
Statement ably made by my Hon Brother
and Friend, the Hon Member of
Parliament for Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai.
Mr Speaker, at any point in time, we
talk about the Ghana Armed Forces
(GAF), it is a Force that we must all
jealously protect, and whatever a soldier
does that inflicts a dent on the
professional image of Ghana Armed
Forces, every Ghanaian has a right to
report it because we are proud of the
image of GAF, and we would do
everything as Ghanaians to protect that
image jealously.
Mr Speaker, I have heard of military
brutalities from Wa to Bibiani-Anhwiaso-
Bekwai to Bawku and many other
places, and it is still happening. What we
all have to do is that we need to
understand that the Military is guided by
international humanitarian law, and
every deployment is governed by rules of
engagement, and these rules of
engagements are drawn from principles
that are very clear that military officers
should not shoot a civilian and civilian
object; military officers should also
respect the life of every individual.
Mr Speaker, article 210 (3) of the 1992
Constitution says:
“The Armed Forces shall be equipped and maintained to
perform their role of defence of
Ghana as well as such other
functions for the development of
Ghana as the President may
determine.”
Mr Speaker, apart from defending
Ghana, there are several things that the

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Military can do in defending Ghana and

ensuring that the development of Ghana

is respected. So, when one hears the

problem of military brutalities, it is

worrying to some of us who have a

background in security. This is because

if the image of the Military is

bastardised, it would come back to haunt

all of us since a professional armed

forces is the one that protects the

sovereignty of the country to ensure that

when we talk about somebody coming

from outside to attack Ghana, we can be

sure that we can go to sleep, but as we

speak, Ghana is not at war, and if Ghana

is not at war, we would expect that our

Military would not go so much into

civilianisation.

Mr Speaker, civilianisation of military

activities is a danger to the democracy

that we are enjoying. Let the soldiers

remain soldiers, and let the other security

agencies remain in their own lane, but

when it comes to military brutality, it is

something that can dent the image of

GAF, and all of us should sound a clarion

call to the Ministry of Defence that it

should rise up to the occasion and ensure

that our Armed Forces remain as

professional as we know them and we

would remain proud of our Ghana Army.

Deputy Minority Leader (Mr

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah): Mr

Speaker, let me thank the Hon Members

who made the Statements. Clearly, this is

a Statement that has been made and,

obviously, the earlier one, to question

GAF, an institution that is really under

the scrutiny of excellence and profes-

sionals. So there are real questions that

must be answered: the issue of how we

are getting the Military to deal with

civilians and how they are trained. Do we

have challenges with the training?

Mr Speaker, the other important point

in this Statement has to do with military

attachments in gold mining areas. It is

not only in Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai

but in a lot of gold mining areas, and we

have had incidence of military encounters

with civilians, and in some instances, the

civilians have been brutalised. One can

tell of the story in Ellembele District not

long ago.

Mr Speaker, the attachment to these

mining areas must be revisited, and we

must know how we deal with it, so the

call by the Hon Member who made the

Statement for the military establishment

to revisit the issue of training -- how they dispatch Military to be attached to

mining communities must be looked at;

it is very critical. This is because these

incidents, as have been stated, would

question GAF, which is ultimately our

defenders, an institution that is so

respected. This must be addressed, and it

must be addressed urgently.

Mr Speaker, I think that the other issue

in the Statement has to do with how

representatives of the people, when they

try to intervene — the story of how assembly members were brutalised and

shot when they tried to defend and speak

on behalf of the people they represent.

That is another serious concern that must

be addressed. So, I think the call for the

Military leadership to revisit and

investigate these incidents and make sure

that the perpetrators are brought to book

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and that justice is served in respect of our

Constitution is key.

Mr Speaker, I want to thank the Hon

Member who made the Statement.

Hon
Members, in fact, I have seen and I have
watched the videos on this Bibiani
incident, and I find the Statement
unfortunate. Yesterday, when I saw the
Statement, I sent copies of the video I
had received the morning before to the
Hon Member who made the Statement.
It is pity we, as Members of Parliament,
are not eye witnesses. People tell us what
they say has happened, and we are
motivated to speak on their behalf. But,
in fact, if one sees the video, he or she
would be appalled at the conduct of the
people claiming to have been attacked by
the Military.
They had bravely entered somebody's mine carrying the rocks brazenly. The
Military were there. It is not an open
area; they had crossed the gate, pushed
it, and the Military pushed them back,
and they pulled back. They gathered, and
they were all holding cutlasses. It was
not one person. I sent the video to him to
look at it. They threatened the soldiers
that it was only because they were
wearing the uniforms, and that the
Military thought they were brave
because of the uniform. They went in,
and the Military pushed them back again,
yet they went back. I think that the
bravado with which young people of
today are willing and ready to attack and
confront the Military or even security
people — if we think that the Military should not come in, then we are going to
militarise the Police because there is no
way the Police can deal with this kind of
behaviour. It is happening across board,
and we should be careful not to condemn
until we have seen or heard all sides.
I am a lawyer, and I am against
brutalities of any kind, but I am also an
avid believer in law enforcement, and I
think that unless the Military or the
Police are firm, we would soon be
overrun in this House; you should mark
it. I tried to get the Information Commu-
nication Technology (ICT) Department
to put the video on so that everyone
watches them, and compare that to the
Statement. I know it is because the
assembly man's claim is mentioned.
They went and brought the assembly
man to go. They pushed him forward and
followed him with their cutlasses. I was
wondering how they expected the
Military to behave. If one looks at the
numbers, they had outnumbered the
Military holding cutlasses and things. I
think we should be very careful with the
things: how we hear them and how we
present them. The Military and Police
are there to protect us. If we do not give
them support, I am afraid, we may be
overrun. Yes, Hon Member, if you
would want to say anything, I would give
you the Floor.

Mr Speaker, I
think that you were only given a section
of the incident, but it appears your

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discussion is being dwelled on that small

aspect.

Mr Speaker, those who sent that

aspect might have an interest, so the part

that is of interest to them is what they

sent. When we go to court, we put out the

part that supports our claim. Mr Speaker,

I just want to prompt you that the aspect

that they shot off the young man's private parts, if anybody sees this — If you put it on the screen, the narrative

would change immediately. By the time

we saw the people pushing, the people

had caused severe harm already, and

they were also trying to retaliate. So,

some people sent just a small aspect

which supports their claim.

Mr Speaker, that is exactly what we

do in court, so I would plead with you

that if the investigation is conducted, we

would see the full story. Other than that,

we would talk of the Military;

meanwhile, they are human beings just

like us. Some of them have questionable

backgrounds. If we listen to their

utterances — We have not listened to that. The Hon Member that they were

looking for would have been beaten if

they had seen him.

Mr Speaker, I think that in itself is an

indictment on the whole House — that a Member of Parliament in the area — I was even in Accra, so he said that

assuming I was there and I had tried to

intervene, that is what they would have

done to me.

Hon
Member, I thought you were going to say something different. For this your
comment, I would arrange for this video to be put on the screen for everybody to see whether it is afterthought. It was at the beginning with the people leaving the mine with boulders that had taken from there. You see, what you have told us is only one part of it. The person who sent me the video is from the Nzema area of the Western Region, and his concern was about the confrontation with the Military; how the young men and women are brazenly confronting the Military. For me, that is the danger we risk by just attacking the security agency without looking at what could have led to it.
So, Hon Member, with all due
respect, they have given you a portion that makes you want to speak on their behalf, and that is it. However, I think the danger really is that we should be very careful in managing situations relating to the Military and the Police. Sometimes, what we hear and which moves us to speak against the Military and the Police is not the entire story. I will have this matter put on the screen for everybody to see so that we can judge whether it was a situation — They came from the mining area, a fenced area, carrying the rocks. That is where the confrontation started.
Hon Member, thank you for the
Statement. There is one more Statement from the Hon Member for Lawra, Mr Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng.
Hon Member, before you start,
having regard to the state of the Business of the House, I direct that the House Sits outside its regular hours.
Hon Member, you may proceed.

Statements

Recent Fire Outbreak at the Eremon

Senior High Technical School

Girls' Dormitory

Mr Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng

(NDC — Lawra): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to make this

Statement on the recent fire outbreak at

the Eremon Senior High Technical

School.

Mr Speaker, the Eremon Senior High

Technical School is one of the three

senior high schools in my constituency

and the Lawra Municipality of the Upper

West Region. On the night of Monday,

6th February, 2023, at about 7.00 p.m., I

was informed through a telephone call by

the Municipal Director of Education and

the headmaster of the school that the

girls' dormitory was in uncontrollable flames and the whole school was in

confusion. By 10.00 p.m., the whole

dormitory block had been gutted and left

in complete ruins.

Mr Speaker, I was further informed

that properties worth thousands of cedis

belonging to the students were destroyed

as nothing could be salvaged. Sadly, this

also included the little cash the students

had with them in school. The

information I have is that the female

students are traumatised and are

currently housed in some makeshift

accommodation on the campus.

According to the school authorities, it

would take a while to estimate the cost of

the damage to the belongings of the

students who were unable to salvage any

of their items lost as a result of the fire.

Not even the arrival of the Ghana

National Fire Service could save the

situation. According to eyewitnesses' accounts, the cause of the fire is yet to be

established. However, what is known is

that there were intermittent power

outages, popularly known as dumsor, on

the campus prior to the fire outbreak that

day.

Mr Speaker, the situation is really

devastating, and I am extremely

saddened by the development. My deep

regret goes to the students and the

school's management and staff. Indeed, this unfortunate incident has taken

everybody by surprise. I got the sad news

few minutes after I returned to Accra on

Monday from the Constituency. It is,

however, a great relief that no life has

been lost.

Mr Speaker, I am currently in touch

with the school management, the

Municipal Chief Executive, and the

Upper West Regional Minister in finding

an immediate solution to the problems so

that normal academic work would

continue in order that the students do not

get distracted unduly.

I call on parents whose children are

affected by the fire to remain calm as

efforts are underway to find a suitable

solution for the incident.

Mr Speaker, permit me to use the

platform of this august House to also call on public-spirited people to come to the aid of the students and the school so that the burden of reconstructing the girls' dormitory, which has been burnt down

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completely, will not be the entire responsibility of the Government.

I also appeal to the Municipal

Assembly, the Upper West Regional Co- ordinating Council, the Ministry of Education, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and indeed, the entire Government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to, as a matter of urgency, take steps to bring some relief to the girls and the school authorities. In particular, I appeal to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to come to the aid of the school with a building for the girls as soon as possible. On my part, I will make my support available after the school authorities have assessed the situation and given an indication of their priority areas.

My heart goes out to these young

female students who have had to suffer this extreme trauma. May God continue to guide and protect them.

Mr Speaker, once more, I thank you

for the opportunity.

Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo

(NDC — Wa Central): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.

Mr Speaker, as the leader of the

Upper West Caucus, it grieves my heart that these fires are beginning to take a shape that is suspected to be arson. On 23rd January, 2023, fire was found to have destroyed the upper level of the girls' dormitory of Wa Senior High Technical School. Within 24 hours, new fire broke out in another side of the dormitory, and the fire incident at

Eremon also occurred, with fire destroying the whole of the space the Hon Member just talked about.

Mr Speaker, two days ago, I went to

a place to inspect and to support them to

construct a school, and the space

occupied by the students which was built

with stock materials, just to keep

students in class, was also burnt down.

This increased burning of school

property is becoming a very troublesome

situation, and the feeling that somebody

may have been behind all these is very

strong. I would like to call on the security

forces to beef up security in this area.

These are areas where facilities are

lacking, infrastructure is not adequate;

yet, these are places targeted for

destruction by these individuals or by

some coincidence — a situation that cannot be explained.

Mr Speaker, I think that we have to

recognise the importance of education as a critical element in the life of every nation. Wherever education is destroyed, we are destroying the very core foundation of the State. That is why our policies in education have always taken a chunk of our national resources because we are building a future.

Mr Speaker, the Upper West Region

is one place where education is instrumental in its development and getting its people out of poverty, and once the target is gearing toward destroying education, it is also gearing towards destroying the whole people. I would like to call on the Ministry of

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Education, not just to provide the facility, but to, temporarily, engage the security forces to make sure that places that are targeted for destruction are guarded.

Mr Speaker, as at this moment, the

space left in the girls' dormitory of Wa Senior High Technical Institute is left unoccupied. The girls are unwilling to occupy the space that is not destroyed because they are terrified that the arson would come back and destroy the place and their lives. I was there few days ago to donate to 58 students who lost everything in the fire, and for the few things that they had left, I gave them chop boxes so they could keep them in and still live a life in school. Many of them are unwilling to stay back and are running home because they think that their lives are in danger. This is not good for the experience of teaching and learning going on there, and I would want to encourage the Ministry of Education to take interest in what is happening in Eremon, Wa Senior High Technical School, and other educational institutes where fire easily breaks out, and destroy properties, leaving students handicapped and terrified.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

Some Hon Members — rose —

Are you
also from Wa? — [Laughter] Very well, I would give the opportunity to the Hon
Members from that area and then come
to the Hon Ranking Member of the
Education Committee before I go to the
Hon Minister.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Joseph Kwame Kumah (NDC
— Kintampo North): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to
comment on this Statement.
Mr Speaker, much as I agree with the
Hon Member who made the Statement
earlier and the comments that have been
made, I would like to take this
opportunity to say that these are
emergency situations. The Hon Member
who made the Statement clearly states
here, and I would like to read just that
portion. He is “appealing to the Regional Coordinating Council, the Ministry of
Education, NADMO…”; that is where I am interested in.
Mr Speaker, NADMO, definitely a
national disaster management organi-
sation, I am sure is beginning to lose its
attention or its core mandate when it
comes to disasters. I am saying this
because in past years, NADMO used to
be very effective and come in when the
Government — I know it is still government funded but these days one
does not see that proactiveness it used to
have. I am saying this because in this
House, I, Mr Joseph Kwame Kumah,
made a Statement on rainstorms that
unroofed a lot of buildings—320 of them in the Kintampo North Municipality. Up
till date, not a bucket — I put a Question, the Hon Minister came and promised
July, 2022, the Ministry of Finance was
releasing moneys, but up till now
nothing has been done.
This is a clear case of NADMO
activity. The Ministry of Education

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cannot get money today or tomorrow to

roof any school building or make a

temporary structure. Mr Speaker, based

on the mention of NADMO here, I think,

you should direct this matter to them to

urgently go in with tents and construct

temporary structures to immediately

save this situation.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for this

Mr Anthony Mwinkaara Sumah

(NDC—Nadowli/Kaleo): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to

contribute to the Statement ably made by

the Hon Member for Lawra in respect of

the fire outbreak at Eremon Senior High

Technical School. I associate myself

with the sentiments of the Hon Member

and I also wish to express my sympathies

to the students, the parents, and the

teachers of the school.

I know they are in very difficult

times, especially regarding providing

shelter and some of the personal effects

of the students so that normal learning

could take place. Mr Speaker, however,

it is quite worrying, especially about the

frequency and peculiarity of these fires.

The Hon Member for Wa Central alluded

to a similar situation, probably three

weeks ago, in Wa Senior High Technical

School where the girls' dormitory was

gutted by fire, and consecutively, the

second or third day, the situation

reoccurred in the same school. In just

two or three weeks, we have a similar

situation occurring in Eremon Senior

High Technical School.

It, therefore, calls for some level of

investigation on what could account for

this trend of fire outbreaks, especially in

senior high schools in the Upper West

Region and particularly in girls' dormitories. I think the peculiarity

should be able to assist the National Fire

Service to do the appropriate

investigations. It is clear that we have

transitioned from the cold weather that is

brought by the harmattan into the hot

weather which brings with it several

triggers of fire. For example, if we have

structures that have defective wiring and

one cannot attest to the quality of

insulation, this can cause fire in this

weather.

We are also not aware if the National

Fire Service conducts fire safety

assessments in these institutions,

particularly having experienced it twice

in just three weeks. I think that they

should up their game and conduct

assessments in these schools. I also think that we should look at the

appliances that are used in these schools, particularly those that are common with the girls' dormitories. That could probably be the source of the fires. We are not pre-empting the findings of what the National Fire Service would do but we are not ruling out anything. We cannot also rule out arson because of the frequency and the nature of the fires.

Mr Speaker, therefore, I think that

this is something that the National Fire Service should take seriously and probably investigate for us to know and bring closure to this matter. They should conduct fire safety assessments across the schools so that we do not have these things reoccurring in other institutions.

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I would also like to call on and plead with philanthropists and other organisations that can come to the aid of these students to assist them because they are in dire need so that normal learning could go on in these schools.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

Yes,
Hon Ranking Member?

Mr Peter Nortsu-Kote (NDC—

Akatsi North): Mr Speaker, I would like to associate myself with the Statement made by the Hon Member for Lawra Constituency, Mr Bede Ziedeng.

It is unfortunate that this has

happened, and we need to sympathise with the students. This is because it is going to put much financial pressure on their parents. Having lost everything they had in school, parents will have to look for money to buy everything for them all over again. We sympathise with them.

Mr Speaker, observations have also

shown that because of the number of

students in the dormitories, there is so

much pressure on the gadgets that are

there so the system becomes heated

overtime. The students are such that they

do not put off those gadgets when they

are going to sleep. They keep the lights

and everything on, so the system

becomes choked. Therefore, what is also

important for us to do is to make sure that

the housemasters go round before

students sleep so that those gadgets that

should not to be on are put off.

It is good that the Hon Minister for

Education is here. We also need to

provide the dormitories with fire

extinguishers. As we speak, I am not sure

if that school had any fire extinguisher

available, so the Hon Minister should

arrange so that schools are supplied with

fire extinguishers, especially where we

do not have the Fire Service vans or

vehicles around to put out fire when

there is an outbreak. It is very important.

Mr Speaker, one thing we also need

to do as a nation is that when we are preparing our budgets for the year, we should make provision for such occurrences. When we look at the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) formula that we have been approving, very little is allocated for emergencies. It is not good for us because we have experienced more than five fire outbreaks in schools already, and these are emergency cases which needed to be attended to urgently.

I would urge the Hon Minister for

Education to liaise with GETFund when they are preparing the formula for this year to make substantial provision for emergency cases like this because if it is not in the budget or the approved formula, it would be very difficult for

GETFund to release any money for such emergencies.

How are we going to cater for the

students now? Would they be day students and come for lectures? Even with that, we would see that they come from far homes, so they would find it difficult getting people to live with and attend classes. So, there is the need for us

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to make provision, either at the Ministry of Education, in their own budget or GETFund, which is responsible for these projects.

Mr Speaker, what is also important is

allocation to GETFund. We have spoken about this for a very long time. We need to increase allocation to GETFund, so that they can take care of these things. It is very important. I would urge the Hon Minister, who is here with us this

afternoon, to take these matters seriously, and see what remedial actions he can take so that the students can return to school as quickly as possible and continue with their studies. On this note, I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon
Minister, I think you may wish to say something in respect of this Statement.
Minister for Education (Dr Yaw
Osei Adutwum) (MP): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity. I want to thank my Hon Colleagues who have spoken on such an important issue. I want to take this opportunity to express our support for the schools that have gone through this situation, whether by fire or through wind storm: Ejuraman Anglican Senior High School and Eremon Senior High Technical School. I would receive reports; our Free Senior High School (Free SHS) coordinators have been on site and our regional directors have gone to the various schools where they have had these challenges.
Mr Speaker, it is important for us to
begin to take a look at issues regarding fire by ensuring that the new schools we
are building have sprinkler systems but beyond that, I also support the call by the Hon Ranking Member that we should conduct immediate inspection of schools, and provide fire extinguishers where they are not available, so that before the Fire Service gets to such locations, support could be offered in terms of putting out the fires.
Mr Speaker, the Government
continues its effort in terms of building more school facilities across the length and breadth of this country. We also have to ensure that as we put up new facilities, we make budgetary allocations for replacement of those that are destroyed.
We have the Funds and Procurement
Management Unit (FPMU) dispatching
people to these two locations, to see what
we can do immediately to provide the
necessary replacement for the
infrastructure that have been destroyed,
so that the education process at these
schools would not be unduly and
negatively impacted.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity.
Deputy Minority Leader (Mr
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah): Mr
Speaker, thank you. Let me thank the
Hon Member who made the Statement,
Mr Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng, the
Hon Member for Lawra. It is a very
unfortunate incident at Eremon Senior
High Technical School.
Mr Speaker, there are few points that
came out of the Statement that need to be
highlighted. We were told that the fire
outbreak that took place on the 6th,

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destroyed all properties of these female

students and nothing was salvaged. What

was remarkable is that we were also told

that there were intermittent outages

before this fire.

Mr Speaker, that quickly brought the

floodlight about some of the issues I

witnessed when I visited some of these

boarding schools. We visited a dormitory

obviously congested with all sorts of

electrical appliances being used while

the wires are visible all over the place. I

think on occasions like these — and I am happy the Hon Minister is here — there has to be an audit of wiring and

electricals in secondary schools. Quite

frankly, this is really a red flag. It is

possible that the wiring problems and the

intermittent power outages were as a

result of wiring malfunction.

Mr Speaker, what we were not told in

the Statement was the issue of the Fire

Service, and what time they arrived. It is

also another important point and I have

to say that because we do not have the

information. But I know there have been

issues of fire where the phone calls to the

Fire Service have really taken forever.

That must also be looked at.

Mr Speaker, I think the call for the

Hon Regional Minister and the

Municipal Assembly working closely

with the Government through the Hon

Minister for Education to quickly

intervene, in this particular case of

Eremon Senior High Technical School is

a very urgent one.

Mr Speaker, on the issues on safety,

the Hon Minister in his statement said

that in the new buildings, they would be

using sprinkler systems and other things.

Those are very important. We must

really bring to the fore the culture of

safety in secondary schools. How many

secondary schools have been engaging in

safety drills during a particular period?

These are very important matters that

must be brought up, especially the issues

of wiring and electrical audit in these

secondary schools to avoid these issues

of fire.

Very
well. That brings us to the end of
Statements, and I would bring
proceedings to a close for today. It is past
2.00 p.m., so it up to me. I do not need a
Motion to bring proceedings to a close.
Hon Members, the House is
accordingly adjourned to tomorrow, Thursday, the 9th of February, 2023, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.