They don’t want peace. Not yet. Not when the smell of gunpowder still makes them feel powerful, and not when the ground is soaked with blood they believe is justified. Bawku isn’t waiting for a handshake — it’s waiting for the next body to drop.

• Bawku’s crisis is not a family feud like Dagbon; it’s a deep ethnic and ideological war.

• Soldiers and police have been killed, and even the IGP’s car was recently shot at.

• Violent groups never negotiate until they’re forced to, like in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

• The military must act decisively so both sides realize guns won’t bring victory.

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“When peace becomes a myth and bullets become language, only one force must speak louder.”

Bawku is not just bleeding — it’s howling. And while the rest of Ghana snoozes in blissful ignorance, a quiet war festers in the Upper East, smoldering like a volcano with a countdown clock no one dares to read aloud. The crisis in Bawku is no longer just a chieftaincy dispute. It is a war, and Ghana must start calling it what it truly is.

Soldiers Are Dying. Policemen Are Dying. And Now… The IGP’s Car Was Shot At?

Yes. You read that right.

The very Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare’s replacement – COP George Alex Mensah Yohunu – barely escaped with his life. His convoy was sprayed with bullets in Bawku, a chilling warning that nobody is off limits anymore. Not even the top brass.

This is not a conflict where reason reigns. It’s a town turned theatre. And the stage is set for something far worse if action isn’t swift, decisive, and unforgiving.

Dagbon Was Family. Bawku Is Ideological War.

When the great Asantehene settled the Dagbon crisis, it was hailed as divine diplomacy. And rightly so. He wielded his historical clout, cultural heft, and ancestral wisdom to broker peace between two gates of the same royal lineage – a family matter, no matter how bloody.

But Bawku is not Dagbon.

The Asantehene’s golden stool may calm family feuds, but it cannot negotiate between two deeply polarized peoples with the bitterness of Iran and Israel hardwired into their psyche. The Mamprusis and Kusasis do not see each other as estranged brothers. They see each other as existential threats — like Hamas and the IDF — whose mere survival is considered an insult.

The Body Count is Growing — And So is the Hatred

So far, dozens of soldiers and police officers have died trying to keep a fragile peace that no one in Bawku even believes in. Each funeral, each coffin draped in Ghana’s flag, each widow made, is a silent scream begging for one question:

When will the state stop begging and start commanding?

Because here’s the brutal truth: When people believe they can win through violence, they will never negotiate. Not until they’ve lost everything. Not until the last bullet ricochets in their ear. Not until force meets force.

No One Negotiates From a Position of Power — Ask Israel

When Hamas attacked Israel, the world cried for peace. Israel negotiated. Briefly. For hostages. For appearances. But once the smoke cleared and Trump’s rubber stamp replaced Biden’s handshake, Israel stopped talking. It went full offensive — airstrikes, ground troops, urban warfare — with the clear aim to dominate, conquer, and erase resistance from both Gaza and the West Bank.

Why?

Because Israel understood what Ghana must now understand:

You do not negotiate with people who still believe the gun is God.

In Bawku, both sides think the gun still speaks for them. As long as they feel they can gain territory, prestige, or power through AK-47s and RPGs, no peace envoy, no chief, no Asantehene can talk them into submission.

The Military Must Break the Illusion of Victory

If Ghana wants peace, the military must wage war — a short, brutal, disarming, punishing conflict. Not one-sided. Not partisan. But against both factions — Kusasis and Mamprusis alike — until both come to one, terrifying conclusion:

There are no winners with guns. Only graveyards.

Final Word: Finish It. Or Watch It Finish Ghana.

Bawku is a lit match at the edge of the nation’s haystack. If Ghana waits any longer, this won’t just be a local conflict. It’ll spill, spread, and scar the map from north to south. And we’ll all ask ourselves how we allowed a town of potential to become a black hole of national regret.

Ghana Armed Forces: this is your call. Not for show of strength. But for a message that echoes louder than bullets.

Finish it. Once and for all.

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