Mahama directs creation of GHS1bn fund for Bawku recovery

President John Dramani Mahama has directed the establishment of a GHS1 billion revitalisation fund to support reconstruction and economic recovery in conflict-affected Bawku.

The directive follows the government’s formal acceptance of the Bawku Conflict Mediation Report presented at Jubilee House by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, after months of mediation at the Manhyia Palace.

In an official statement signed by the Government Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Presidency acknowledged that prolonged insecurity in Bawku and surrounding areas has taken a heavy toll on lives, livelihoods, and development.

“The protracted conflict has resulted in grave human, social, and economic losses, significantly undermining livelihoods, social cohesion, and development prospects in Bawku and its environs,” the statement said.

According to the statement, insecurity over the years has discouraged investment and stalled infrastructure projects, prompting the government to pursue a targeted recovery programme.

“In response, His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Minister for Finance to establish a One Billion Ghana Cedi (GHS 1,000,000,000) Bawku Revitalisation Fund,” it noted.

The fund will be disbursed over a three-year period between 2026 and 2028 and will focus on priority infrastructure and economic renewal.

Government said the resources will support “roads, healthcare, education, dam and irrigation facilities for all-year-round agriculture, security installations, and economic and commercial facilities,” with the aim of restoring Bawku’s role as a major trading hub in northern Ghana.

Management of the fund will be overseen by a high-level committee chaired by Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, who also serves as Acting Minister for Defence.

Other members include Upper East Regional Minister Donaltus Akamuguri and Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, representing MPs from the area.

The funding initiative is part of a broader peace and reconciliation agenda following the government’s endorsement of the Otumfuo-led mediation report.

The statement stressed that the report is “a comprehensive, fact-based, and forward-looking roadmap aimed exclusively at achieving lasting peace, reconciliation, and stability,” and not about assigning blame.

Government also appealed for national backing for the recovery effort.

“Government calls on all traditional authorities, political leaders, youth groups, civil society organisations, religious bodies, development partners, and the broader citizenry to support the peace-building and reconciliation process in the spirit of unity, restraint, and patriotism,” the statement said.

The Bawku conflict is a long-running chieftaincy and ethnic dispute primarily involving Mamprusi and Kusasi groups, with roots in colonial-era administrative decisions and competing claims to traditional authority.

Periodic violence has led to loss of life, displacement, and heightened security deployments, prompting repeated state and traditional interventions aimed at restoring calm and sustainable coexistence.