Otumfuo’s mediation bears fruit: “Bawku is finally calm; The guns have stopped sounding” – President Mahama declares
Eight months after the presentation of the Otumfuo mediation report, President John Dramani Mahama has declared that Bawku is finally calm. “Bawku is finally calm. The guns have stopped sounding, and people are beginning to go about their normal business,” the President said during his Resetting Ghana community engagement in the Upper East Region on Friday, August 14, 2026.
“I believe that if this peace continues, Bawku will bounce back to its original glory as a major commercial area of our country,” he stated
The mediation
President Akufo-Addo first appointed Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to lead the mediation in 2024, and President Mahama continued that process after taking office.
After months of consultations, Otumfuo presented a final mediation report to President Mahama in December 2025.
Revitalization fund
To back his own words, President Mahama announced plans to implement the GH¢1 billion Bawku Revitalisation Fund, which is aimed at rebuilding roads, healthcare facilities, and critical infrastructure in the area after years of deadly conflict.
The fighting had taken a devastating toll. Teachers fled. Health professionals abandoned their posts. The government could not post doctors or National Service personnel to the area. Essential services collapsed as insecurity drove away the very people Bawku needed to survive.
Reversing damage
Now, with peace holding, the President said the time has come to reverse that damage.
Work has already begun on township roads, bridges, and health facilities ahead of the official inauguration of the committee that will oversee the fund, President Mahama revealed.
President Mahama also announced a $5 billion investment in agriculture and agro-processing over the next four years, half of a wider $10 billion programme targeting seven key sectors of Ghana’s economy. “We want to reduce the amount of onions we import from Niger,” Mr. Mahama said.
He commended traditional rulers and residents for their role in sustaining the peace, which he believes will bring back the professionals, the businesses, and the hope that Bawku had lost. “Many of the people who left will return,” he said.
