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Son of Ghana’s first President, Sekou Nkrumah has linked the enduring Bawku chieftaincy conflict to deliberate post-independence political interventions rather than natural succession disputes.
He argued that Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s government disrupted the colonial-era traditional authority, installing rival chiefs to consolidate support for the CPP.
“This became the genesis of the chieftaincy dispute known today as the Mamprusi–Kusasi conflict,” Sekou said on Asaase Radio.
He explained that chiefs perceived to oppose the ruling party were weakened or replaced, while loyalists were elevated. Citing a warning from his father, Sekou noted:
“Those of our chiefs who are with us, we will honour you. Those who are against us shall run away fast and leave their sandals behind.”
Sekou highlighted historical electoral divides, pointing out that Mamprusis supported the Northern People’s Party in 1954, while Kusasis aligned with the CPP.
“That political divide hardened ethnic lines and transformed political competition into a recurring chieftaincy conflict,” he said.
According to Sekou, the conflict persisted beyond Nkrumah’s overthrow, with successive regimes, including the NLC, PNDC, and NDC, continuing to exploit the same political fault lines.
He added; “The conflict has persisted not because solutions are unavailable, but because resolving it would require political sacrifices many governments are unwilling to make.”
The Bawku crisis, Sekou concluded, has become sustained by political convenience rather than tradition, making genuine resolution extremely difficult.
His remarks draw on his research in The Bawku Chieftaincy Dispute: History, Legitimacy and Political Interference, which traces how colonial and post-independence policies reshaped the traditional governance system.
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