President John Dramani Mahama will receive the Bawku conflict mediation report from Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on Tuesday December 16 2025 at the Presidency at 4pm. Former Attorney General Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu has raised concerns about whether the resolution process follows the framework of the 1992 Constitution.
Amidu who served as Attorney General from 2011 to 2012 and Minister for Interior from 2010 to 2011 has deep connections to Bawku. He has questioned whether Ghanaians will receive an arbitration report containing binding findings or a mediation report showing agreements reached by the conflict parties themselves. The former Special Prosecutor drafted terms of reference for administrative committees that examined Bawku chieftaincy issues during his time as Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Deputy Secretary for the Upper East Region from February 1983.
The National House of Chiefs and National Peace Council have received invitations to witness the presentation according to Ghana News Agency. Amidu has expressed concern that neither the Bawku Naba representing the Kusasi people nor the Nayiri representing the Mamprusi people will attend as invitees. The conflict parties have not publicly disclosed the terms of reference for the mediation process.
The former Attorney General represented the Bawku Naba in 2003 when Akufo Addo Prempeh and Company filed a Supreme Court action on behalf of the Mamprusis challenging the constitutionality of the Chieftaincy Restoration of Status of Chiefs Law (PNDCL 75). He successfully argued lack of jurisdiction based on the Transitional Provisions of the 1992 Constitution. The court allowed discontinuance without liberty for the plaintiff to return on the same matter.
The Asantehene began formal engagement with stakeholders in April 2025 meeting separately with representatives from both sides reports NewsGhana. Mediation work was temporarily suspended but resumed in May contributing to relative calm in the municipality. The conflict primarily involves Kusasi and Mamprusi groups over claims to traditional authority with roots extending to colonial era administrative decisions.
Amidu noted that between January 7 2025 and December 15 2025 the scope of violence has expanded for the first time since the 1950s to engulf Binduri Garu and Tempani Districts. He stated more lives were lost within this period than in the preceding eight years of the same conflict. The expansion raises questions about the effectiveness of current conflict management approaches.
The former Attorney General who initiated and oversaw enactment of the National Peace Council Act 2011 (Act 818) and Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010 (Act 795) emphasized the importance of transparent processes. Professional conflict resolution requires parties to understand from the outset whether they participate in arbitration producing binding decisions or mediation producing mutually agreed outcomes. Without publicly available terms of reference the nature of the Asantehene’s powers remains unclear to conflict parties and Ghanaians.
President Mahama stated that the Sahel area faces violent extremism making it important to handle the Bawku issue amicably and quickly during his meeting with the National Peace Council. He expressed appreciation to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his invaluable role. The President acknowledged that when he assumed office the previous government had already requested the Asantehene to mediate.
Amidu recalled that during the February 3 2024 campaign visit to the Bawku Naba’s palace then candidate Mahama stated there is no chieftaincy conflict because there is only one known king. The former Attorney General questioned why President Mahama now requests mediation of a conflict he previously declared nonexistent. This contradiction raises concerns about consistency in government position on the constitutional status of traditional authority in Bawku.
News reports indicate that neither representatives of the Bawku Naba nor the Nayiri who attended the final facilitation session at Manhyia Palace on December 1 2025 knew the outcome of the mediation process. Heavy security deployment at Manhyia Palace that day suggests ongoing tensions between conflict parties. The former Attorney General warned that misleading euphoria about final resolution may distract from real tensions still existing on the ground.
The protracted conflict continues to strain security resources and affect economic and social life throughout the Upper East Region according to NewsGhana. Recurring violence has necessitated periodic curfews disrupted local livelihoods and hampered development initiatives. The duty of governments under the 1992 Constitution is to uphold the status quo ante January 7 1993 and manage legitimate chieftaincy conflicts within the constitutional regime.
Amidu emphasized that when politicians interfere in chieftaincy or land conflicts or encourage constituents to seek self help when in power one gets what unfortunately happened in Dagbon under the Kufuor administration. The Dagbon chieftaincy dispute resolved under the Akufo Addo Government ensured nobody benefitted from murder of a legitimately enskinned chief. President Akufo Addo had more leverage on one side because he served as Attorney General when the Ya Naa was murdered during the Kufuor administration.
The former Attorney General stated that as long as government operates outside the framework of the 1992 Constitution and status quo ante to resolve the Bawku Chieftaincy conflict both parties must know what they participated in through transparent and accountable process. Whether the process constitutes adjudication arbitration or mediation parties and every Ghanaian deserve to know in advance rather than face surprises. This constitutes basic due process of law under Ghanaian legal frameworks.
The presentation scheduled for Tuesday will reveal whether the report contains findings and recommendations from an arbitrator with binding decision making powers or outcomes jointly agreed by conflict parties through mediation facilitation. The absence of publicly available information about the nature of processes requested by government leaves Ghanaians uncertain about what to expect from the concluding presentation at Jubilee House.