People Of Bawku Confident Of Peace After Verdict

The people of Bawku in the Upper East Region have given the assurance that they would maintain the peace before and after the Supreme Court verdict on the 2012 election petition. Bawku is one of the conflict prone areas in the country after battling protracted ethnic conflict for decades. The area has remained relatively calm in the last three years. The Ghana News Agency (GNA) sampled views of residents in the area to ascertain their preparedness to receive the verdict and most of the people reaffirmed their determination to hold and maintain the peace after the Supreme Court verdict. They expressed confidence in the judges and said they had shown their neutrality and maturity at the hearing of the case. Some groups and associations in the area are preaching peace messages in mosques, churches and organising programmes geared towards uniting the people. Speaking to the GNA in an interview, Mr David Adoliba, Presiding Member of the Bawku Municipal Assembly, said the assembly and other concerned institutions had made efforts to educate the people to maintain the peace. He said the people of Bawku had learnt their lessons and that the area would remain calm and peaceful no matter the outcome of the verdict. Mr Adoliba asked the people to erase the wrong impression that something negative would happen in the country and rather concentrate on their businesses because that would be the only source that could guarantee their development. He reminded the teaming youth that the country looked up to them because they were the driving force for national development and, therefore, should not do anything that would jeopardize that interest. Mr Issifu Mahama, former Assembly Member of Bador Electoral Area and New Patriotic Party activist, urged the people to consider the national interest first and accept the Supreme Court verdict because God knows the best for the nation.