Security Consultant Professor Kwesi Aning has questioned the effectiveness of curfews in resolving the long-standing conflict in Bawku, describing them as a “lazy” approach that has failed to bring peace to the area.
Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews on Monday, July 28, Prof. Aning expressed concern over the repeated use of the same security strategies despite their lack of results.
“My argument is that we’ve dealt with this problem for a very long time, and we seem to be using the same methodology in seeking to resolve it,” he said. “It surprises me that we think we can use the same methodology and see a different response.”
He singled out the imposition of curfews as a key example of the state’s ineffective response.
“Number one has been the use of curfews. Curfews are an extremely lazy act-of-emergency approach to deal with the crisis here,” he said.
He called for a more in-depth and coordinated strategy that involves understanding the different groups driving the conflict.
“We need a much better multi-dimensional aggregation of the interest groups,” he noted.
“I doubt if we have done a solid disaggregation of the multiple interest groups: what their strengths are, where they get their money from, their weaponry, the interlocking nature of their relationships and how the strength of these groups, economically and politically, is giving them the authority to now think they can challenge the Republic of Ghana.”
His comment follows the government’s response to recent killings, which has extended to students in Bawku and Nalerigu by imposing a fresh curfew timeline in the two towns and surrounding communities, effective from 2:00 pm to 6:00 am daily.
This started on Sunday, 27th July 2025, without any information on the date it would be lifted.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, the government explained that the curfew forms part of broader efforts to restore peace in the affected areas following a surge in violent incidents.
Fresh waves of violence have gripped the troubled town of Bawku following the recent killing of a Kusasi chief in Kumasi, believed to have sparked a string of reprisal attacks.
Read also: Gov’t deploys Armed Forces to enforce peace in Bawku amid violence
Two additional individuals were reportedly killed in Kumasi in connection with the ongoing chieftaincy tensions, triggering renewed unrest in Bawku.
On Saturday night, a student of Bawku Senior High School was allegedly dragged from his dormitory and shot dead by unknown assailants who gained entry by scaling the school’s perimeter wall.
The victim, identified as being of Mossi descent, is believed to have been mistaken for an affiliate of one of the factions involved in the protracted chieftaincy dispute.
In retaliation, two male students of Nalerigu Senior High School were shot and killed following a violent attack by unidentified gunmen on Saturday, 26th July.
The residence of the Member of Parliament for Bawku and Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, was also vandalised and set ablaze later that same night.
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