Mahama Unveils Billion-Cedi Lifeline To Rebuild Bawku
President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a five-member Bawku Revitalisation Committee to superintend the GH¢1 billion Bawku Development Fund, a landmark intervention designed to rebuild the war-scarred commercial hub and restore economic and social vitality across the Upper East enclave.
The Committee, chaired by Minister for Finance Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, comprises Bawku Central legislator Mahama Ayariga, Garu Member of Parliament Dr Thomas Winsum Anabah, Upper East Regional Minister Donatus Akamugri Atanga and Tempane Paramount Chief His Royal Majesty Cletus Abugri. Its mandate encompasses post-conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation of degraded public infrastructure, revival of collapsed livelihoods and facilitation of private enterprise return to the once-thriving trading corridor.
Speaking at the Presidency on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, President Mahama lamented that decades of protracted chieftaincy and ethnic strife had paralyzed public and private investment, damaged productive assets and forced essential service providers to abandon the municipality. He noted that insecurity had prevented posting of teachers, nurses, doctors and national service personnel, crippling education and healthcare delivery. According to GBC Ghana Online news report, the President declared that improved security now provides a strategic window to transition from peacekeeping to sustainable development and ensure Bawku reclaims its fair share of the national cake.
The Fund, to be disbursed between 2026 and 2028, originates from the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II mediation report endorsed on December 16, 2025, which charted a roadmap for durable peace and reconciliation. Its scope includes reconstruction of roads and bridges, completion of Agenda 111 health facilities and a new district hospital, rehabilitation of the stalled Tamli Dam and irrigation schemes for all-year agriculture, restoration of educational establishments and commercial markets, and reinforcement of security installations.
This initiative represents the most ambitious state-led reconstruction effort in northern Ghana in recent memory, shifting policy from containment to revitalisation. With relative calm restored and allocation formally secured, the administration is betting that transparent stewardship, coupled with community ownership, will transform Bawku from a symbol of fratricidal conflict into a model of post-conflict economic renaissance and social cohesion.
Source: Jubilee House
Author: Korkor Anumu
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