Countrymen and women, loyalists and opponents, last week I was ashamed and very troubled by the clashes in Bimbilla, sparked by a chieftaincy dispute. I was ashamed because the fighting, according to reports, was sparked by a power blackout. Yes, a power blackout ? blamed on an official of the power company who just happens to belong to one of the factions in the dispute. Why on earth will people fight over something like that? I was (and I still am) very troubled because the fighting in Bimbilla presents yet another security headache for me and my government to deal with. We are nowhere near resolving Yendi and now Bimbilla? Just over the weekend, I also heard about some skirmishes in Wa ? over a chieftaincy dispute.
I know that many citizens of the land are asking the same questions I have been asking myself. Many Sikaman citizens are wondering ?what is wrong with these people?? By these people, they mean the people of the north. People are wondering why it is so easy for the most ?trivial? issues to spark violence in communities in the north. More than ten years ago, it was the Konkomba-Nanumba conflict, reportedly ignited by a little dispute over a stray guinea foul. Then there was Dagbon. The least said about Dagbon, for now, the better.