There is tight security at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, with several armed soldiers and police present for the Bawku conflict mediation.
The stage is set as Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, resumes his mediation efforts today. The Bawku Naba, Abugrago Azoka, is also in Kumasi for the peace talks.
Attention is focused on the Manhyia Palace for the next three days as mediation talks aimed at resolving the Bawku conflict begin today at the seat of the Golden Stool.
Key stakeholders from the conflict area started arriving in Kumasi on Monday ahead of the crucial discussions.
The sessions, hosted by the sole mediator, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will focus on the chieftaincy aspect of the conflict, which lies at the heart of the dispute between the Kusasi and Mamprusi communities.
Journalists have gathered at the Manhyia Palace, eagerly awaiting updates on the mediation.
Background
The Bawku conflict, which has spanned ages, has reduced some communities in the area to ghost towns in the wake of the violence that has attended the conflict.
Security agencies have been deployed over the years to keep the peace in the area but that has merely papered over seemingly deep-rooted factors at the base of the conflict.
Indeed, hundreds have been killed directly as a result of the conflict, with individual members of different labour groups either quitting the area or declining posting to the affected communities.
In extreme cases, some company branches, including banks, have shut their offices in the area, while courts operating within the conflict enclave were closed by the Chief Justice some time last year.
The Inspector General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, and the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Lawrence Kwaku Gbetanu, have visited the conflict zone to interact with the youth and discuss peace with the people.
For years, the Ministry for the Interior has reviewed and sustained a curfew schedule in Bawku and its environs as a measure to control the situation.
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