Bawku, May 21, GNA - The Paramount Chief of Bawku Traditional Area, Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka 11, has expressed misgivings about the recent statement issued by the Nayiri, Naa Bohagu Mahami Aboulai Sheriga, Paramount Chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area.

Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka said at a press conference through a spokesman that it was heart warming that the Nayiri advised the Mamprusis in Bawku to return to the Inter-Ethnic Peace Committee to continue the dialogue to bring about peace. He said he however not was not happy that Naa Bohagu Mahami Aboulai Sheriga was reported to have advocated for the performance of the funeral of Bawku Naba Adam Zangbeo as one of the solutions to the protracted ethnic conflict in Bawku. Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka said the claim by the Nayiri that the non-performance of the funeral rites of Naba Zangbeo was hindering the peace process in Bawku was untrue. He said the funeral rites were performed in the Islamic tradition when he died since he was a Moslem.

Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka said it was untrue that the Kusasis had seized the farm lands of the Mamprusis as stated by the Nayiri. He said the conflict had polarized Mamprusis and Kusasis to the extent that communities of the two ethnic groups did not easily interact nor transact business within areas predominantly occupied by opposing communities.

Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka said the assertion by the Nayiri that Mamprusis who were arrested were not given fair treatment whilst the Kusasis were given fair treatment was untrue and that the security services were fair in their dealings in the Bawku conflict. "In any case arrests and prosecution of alleged offenders cannot be based on ethnic balance to demonstrate fairness but rather on acts committed by individuals irrespective of one's ethnic background", he said.