The Mamprugu Youth Association (MAYA) Bawku Chapter have urged government and the security agencies not to allow themselves to be blackmailed or misled by “a so-called Kusaug Traditional Council into acting wrongfully against Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre or the Mamprusi people. Any such action would rather derail the peace process and embolden those whose true objective is to perpetuate banditry and violence under the cloak of grievances.”
In a statement signed by the President of the association, Seidu Awudu and Abdul Majeed Bagura, the association also “charged government to remain firm, impartial, and committed to truth and justice, within the
framework of the ongoing mediation process, as only this will pave the way for a lasting peace in Bawku.”
The association referred to what they described as a “sustained campaign of falsehoods and provocations by a faceless body known as the ‘Kusaug Traditional Council’ against Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre. For years, Naa Sheriga has chosen the noble path of silence, not out of weakness, but as a conscious effort to de-escalate tensions and safeguard the fragile peace in Bawku.
“Unfortunately, while he has restrained himself, the so-called Kusaug Traditional Council has repeatedly issued press releases and held press conferences filled with baseless accusations aimed at defaming and denigrating his person.”
On August 30, 2025, the so-called Kusaug Traditional Council, they pointed out, “issued yet another statement in which it sought to impugn the integrity of Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre through falsehood and vile propaganda. The threats contained in that statement expose the calculated intention of the Kusasi leaders to strangulate the Bawku township and put thousands of livelihoods in danger.”
The demands by the so-called Kusaug Traditional Council, namely the arrest and prosecution Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre, the stoppage of security escorts for non-Kusasi trucks and the stoppage of the Annual Damba Festival, they noted, “are not only outrageous, they also portray a self-conceited mindset that can further inflame the already volatile situation in Bawku.”
No Enskinment whatsoever, they pointed out, “has taken place: Naa Sheriga Alhaji Seidu Abagre has not enskinned any chief, nor is he planning to enskin anyone as the Kusasis allege. The allegations contained in the statement by the so-called Kusaug Traditional Council are pure fabrications designed to create needless fear and tension.”
The so-called Kusaug Traditional Council’s “falsehoods, combined with their simultaneous demand for the withdrawal of escorts, expose their true intent: to unleash armed bandits on innocent citizens as they have done in the past four years.”
The chief’s “genealogy can be traced back centuries to 1721, long before the claimed arrival of the Kusasis in the Bawku area in 1885. His ancestors lived, ruled, and were buried in Bawku. Any attempt by the Kusasis to question his legitimacy or demand his removal from his own home as a condition to laying down their arms is not only a provocation and untenable but also exposes their lack of interest in peace,” they added.