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Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Wayongo, is accusing his own government of dilly-dallying in the Bawku crisis by sitting on proposals submitted to them, a situation he thinks is accounting for the upsurge in hostilities in the area. Mr. Wayongo believes that until authorities in Accra deal decisively with the Bawku crisis, by implementing recommendations put forward by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), there will be �continuous sporadic shootings� in Bawku. There were renewed hostilities and sporadic gun-shots in the Bawku Municipality last Friday, 30th October, and early this morning. Details of this dawn�s shooting incident are still sketchy, but unconfirmed reports say, on Sunday, 1st November, armed men shot into a group of mourners and the shooting continued while the streets were deserted. According to the Minister, when fighting first erupted in the Bawku Municipality this year, the (REGSEC) made a number of recommendations to the authorities in Accra, but till date no positive action has been taken on the recommendations, and this he strongly thinks is dangerous and akin to a fuse ready to explode. �The policemen on the ground complained they don�t have live (protective) jackets so anytime there is an incident like that, they take to their heels. It�s only the soldiers who are very daring, they are able to come to terms with the situation and I believe they are the people who are keeping the peace in the area�It is not as if we�re not proactive, but there are limitations�the last time the REGSEC met the Minister for the Interior (Hon. Cletus Avorka), we outlined the problems that the security men are confronted with on the ground� and until those concerns are addressed we�ll continue to have this sporadic shooting (incidents),� he said in an interview on JoyFM. Whiles expressing disquiet at the current state of affairs, the REGSEC Chairman acknowledged that only a shared responsibility will best salvage the situation. �It is a collective effort, we are on the ground, we make the recommendations and the people in Accra are supposed to implement�we cannot send troops, we don�t have troops here, so we expect that the people in Accra will say okay, we got your report, we are sending so many troops or so many policemen to your area�that is the best we can do, to make recommendations for consideration by the authorities in Accra,� he stated. Hon. Mark Wayongo stressed that beyond making recommendations, they will meet with �the youth, opinion leaders and the other minority tribes in the area who are also gradually being dragged into the conflict,� to fashion out ways of resolving the current conflict whiles their �recommendations are being attended to.� However, Hon. Wayongo beat a sharp retreat when PEACEFM News caught up with him for further clarification. The Regional Minister explained that he was rather correcting an impression that the REGSEC was not proactive. ��there are certain limitations. Somebody was giving the impression that REGSEC wasn�t proactive, but what I said was that REGSEC had limits�for example, we need communication gadgets, vehicles�REGSEC cannot provide all those things�we�re asking for incentives or things that will motivate the troops on the ground. We cannot do that at this level unless we get the support from Accra; that is the point I was trying to emphasize this morning,� he illuminated. Hon Wayongo commented on what kind of intervention they are expecting from government to help address the conflict. �We�ve made a few recommendations to government�we want an imposition of a state of emergency in Bawku (that has been done). We also want an helicopter for the troops on the ground. We also want some logistics like vehicles, bullet-proof vests for the police. At the moment, the police don�t have bullet-proof vests and so they are exposed to danger. And we also need to improve ration for the troops�.metal detectors are needed since arms are being smuggled into Bawku�the telephone network is not the best in the area�and I think that there is the need for them to have efficient communication system on the ground,� he stated in the interview with PEACEFM News. In a related development, three people have been confirmed dead and seven others injured in the latest surge of violence that has plagued the Bawku Municipality in the Upper East Region. Already 29 suspects have been picked up for screening.