Hon Abed-Nego Lamangin Bandim
Bunkpurugu

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.

Mr Speaker, I rise to bring to the urgent attention of this House a persistent security challenge that threatens the stability of the Bunkurugu enclave in the North East region. I refer to the recurring pattern of unexplained disappearance within the “Muog” territory, a situation that requires immediate state intervention.

Mr Speaker, on Sunday 25th January, 2026, community stakeholders and the National Association of Bimoba, Moba and Gurma (NABMAG) reported the disappearance of yet another citizen in Nakpanduri. This recent incident is not an isolated event, but part of a documented trajectory. Records indicate that about seven people have been missing since 2001 to 2026, at least, seven individuals from Nakpanduri and its environs have been reported missing and remain unaccounted for.

Mr Speaker, the absence of conclusive investigations into these cases has created a climate of uncertainty. For the families involved, the lack of closure is a source of profound distress. For the broader community, it fuels suspicion and strains social cohesion necessary for peace and development.

Mr Speaker, the latest disappearance must be viewed within the context of recent deterioration of the security environment in the North East Region. We note with concern that just ten days prior to mid-January 2026, police barriers in the Nalerigu and Gambaga areas were set ablaze by unknown persons. Such attacks on security infrastructure suggest a growing boldness among criminal elements that compromises the safety of constituents.

Furthermore, the topography of Nakpanduri, especially the Scarp, presents unique security challenges. Intelligence assessments have long indicated that the difficult terrain can be exploited by transnational criminal networks, and extremist element seeking sanctuary. It is imperative that our security architecture adapts to effectively police the geography.

Mr Speaker, Article 13 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees the protection of life and personal liberties. The unresolved nature of these disappearances suggests a gap in our enforcement of these guarantees. Routine procedures have proven insufficient. A more rigorous intelligence-led approach is required. In light of this, I make the specific demands.

Mr Speaker, I call upon the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to exercise its mandate under the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice Act, 1993 Act 456 to conduct a preliminary investigation into these seven cases. We require an independent assessment to determine if there has been a systemic failure in the State’s duty to protect its citizens. To the police administration: while we acknowledge the logistical constraints facing the Service, the current situation demands specialised attention.

I urge the Inspector General of Police to deploy a dedicated team, potentially the Cold Case Unit, to the North East Region to review the dockets of these missing persons. The families deserve definitive answers. To the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), leveraging the NORPREVSEC (Preventing Electoral Violence and Providing Security to the Northern Border Regions of Ghana) project, I charge the Commission to intensify security awareness in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District. It is vital that our citizens are empowered to report suspicious activities in a timely and fear-free manner.

Mr Speaker, I appeal to our traditional authorities and the leadership of the National Association of Bimobas, Mobas and Gurmas (NABMAG) to support the State’s efforts. As custodians of the land, your collaboration is essential in identifying and rooting out the internal actors who may be facilitating these crimes. The people of Nakpanduri and the North East Region look to the House and the State for assurance. We cannot allow a part of this country to become a zone of silence where citizens vanish without explanations. I urge this House to support the call for a thorough investigation and a robust security response to these matters.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to make this Statement. Thank you.

Hon Seidu Mahama Alidu
Tamale Central

Thank you so much, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Member for Bunkpurugu.

Mr Speaker, I think when we look at the whole concept of insecurity and peace, basically, attention is always focused more on negative peace, where there is direct violence, people are killed, lives are lost and properties are destroyed. But largely, when we look at where positive peace is involved, where there is no direct conflict, but abuses of human rights, kidnapping and all that is happening in Bunkpurugu happens, very little attention is paid to this kind of scenario.

Mr Speaker, it is very important, and as the maker of the Statement has indicated, that a lot of measures need to be taken. I think one of the best ways we can do this is to look at a multistakeholder approach, not only the use of military and security agencies, but the involvement of the community and the individuals within the community, civil society organisations and largely civilians.

Mr Speaker, whether it is positive peace or negative peace-related violence, the implication is the same on food production from Bunkpurugu, on social cohesion and the unity among families, the whole concept of security and people’s ability to move freely is hampered. So, I think it is very important, and this Statement is timely not just in Bunkpurugu, because it can happen in any part of the Northern Region.

I add my voice to the recommendations made by the Hon Member, and I think when care and attention are paid to this kind of related incidents, we are going to have a better Northern Region and a better Bunkpurugu.

Hon Jerry Ahmed Shaib
Weija-Gbawe

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for this opportunity, and let me also celebrate my Hon Colleague for putting out such a very important Statement.

Mr Speaker, the Nakpanduri District has a documented history of chieftaincy disputes. It also has a documented history of communal violence and highway insecurity. That is why I am extremely excited that both the Hon Minister for the Interior and his Deputies are here because this is a matter that concerns internal security management of this country.

Mr Speaker, let me just give you some history on the chieftaincy conflict and communal violence, and then you will see how this is causing more problems. The Bimbagu-Nanik dispute is the most significant security crisis of the year in 2025. It was centred on a long-standing chieftaincy feud between the Bimbagu and Nanik communities over the elevation of just a subchief. Nanik, Daana, was appointed to the paramount chief status by the National House of Chiefs. Still the same Bimbagu community, which considers the Nanik chieftaincy subordinate to their own, strongly opposed the elevation of Daana, and you should understand what it came with.

On the 28th February, there was a dawn attack. Armed assailants from Bimbagu factions launched a pre-dawn assault on the Nanik. Three individuals were found burned beyond recognition. A 27-year-old teacher who had just requested a transfer, and a native of Walewale, who was posted to a village two years before the incident — this was an eyewitness account. They noted that Majira had applied for transfer but was denied, and this was one of the persons who was burned. Approximately 50 houses were razed to the ground. Child remains were conveyed to the Binde Rural Hospital, and this attack represented an escalation of the violence that had been festering since January 2024. Five hundred homes were displaced. When you come to the cascading consequences, in March 2025, 20 basic schools were closed in the Bimbagu Nanik community. So, children were not able to go to school. [Interruption]

Mr Speaker, the Statement has to do with the security situation and the disappearances. So, unless, respectfully, the Hon Minister of the Interior is saying that this does not correlate with the security situation. Mr Speaker, on health facilities, two Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds were burnt in the same community, and then there is also the displacement of about 1,500 people in the same community. What is the way forward? The way forward is to look at how to collaborate efforts with the security agencies to stop this. Not to have politicians also being a part of chieftaincy issues. So, whether a person belongs to the Convention People’s Party (CPP) or Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), we will not come and say that they support party A, B or C.

Mr Speaker, there should be a communal engagement and a stakeholder engagement to explain to the people, ably led by the Hon Minister for the Interior and the Hon Minister for National Security, on how to engage these people and also to encourage highway patrols because that is one of the places where there is a lot of robbery. If we are able to bring all of these to the fore, the issues of people disappearing—they are human beings, they are visible, they are working and the next moment, they cannot be found. All of these things will be nipped in the bud. Mr Speaker, with this, I want to thank you for giving me the platform. Thank you very much.

Hon Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka
Asawase

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

I am very much aware of the rules governing Statements, which are not supposed to attract debate and also largely deviate from the content of the Statement.

However, Mr Speaker, I am worried about the facts that have found itself in the Statement. I can say on authority that my Colleague, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nakpanduri was met by the Regional Police Commander, and he told him it is only one case that has been reported. He still insisted and came to say seven have been missing. The police do not work in isolation. If something happens and we do not report to the police, they will never be able to know. We do not expect them to be, with the greatest respect, magicians or superhuman.

So, I will be very grateful if my Colleague would try to liaise with the police because the most important thing for us as MPs is to be able to deal with the challenges that are in our constituencies. If we position ourselves to be seen to be antagonistic towards the security people in our constituencies, they will find it very difficult to cooperate with us or even give us information because they would believe that they will give us information that will be distorted. But that notwithstanding, on this particular instance, we went to court, got the court permission to go through the gentleman’s call records.

Unfortunately, for the three days before the incident, all the calls that he had were with their family members in his home. So, the investigation is still on, and I want to assure my Hon Colleague that we will continue to work hand-in-hand with the community and the family to be able to unravel this. We will also be interested, if he has records of any other person apart from the recent one. Please, they should come forward with it so that it can assist the security agencies to deal with it decisively.

Mr Speaker, I must admit that the challenges in that area are enormous. We are aware of the incidents for the past one and a half years; the challenges that we have been having in Bawku and its environs. We do not have any extra police officers where we can say that when something is happening, we will just pull them, as some countries would do: they call them reserve force. It is the same police officers that we have. At a point in time, we were all worried because we had to draw officers even from the Northern Region to go and support that enclave.

Mr Speaker, when we had the opportunity to get these 50 armoured vehicles, Mr Speaker, the majority of the armoured cars are there. Mr Speaker, the worrying thing is when the citizens are not willing to cooperate with the police to ensure peace in their area. For example, between 25th December, 2025 and today, the number of officers that have been shot and killed in that area is alarming. Just the day before yesterday, an officer was shot and killed. It makes it very difficult when we want to send officers there. People even go and beg that they want to be transferred. I have instances where we sit in the office and officers resign, that if they are not transferred out of that area, then they would rather resign and leave the Service. Because the citizens themselves are not helpful.

I am happy that my Colleague, Hon Kabiru Mahama was saying that we should include community policing. Community policing has to be started by the people themselves. We cannot go and impose it on them that we want to have community policing and therefore we are appointing such and such. It is the citizens that come forward to say, “We want to help you to keep the peace in our area, and we want to facilitate that.” Then we take them through training and show them what to do. In all these enclaves, it is so difficult. They would rather prefer to have their guns and their ammunition hidden in their homes, on their motorbikes and their vehicles, to settle scores, rather than trying to come forward to help maintain the peace in the area.

Mr Speaker, to the extent that, police officers that we put on the barrier, at checkpoints, people have courage to go openly and fire at them and kill them. Yes! In that area. At the point that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had to withdraw all police officers from checkpoints and I had to insist that no, the answer is not to withdraw. We should rather be able to place them with armoured vehicles. So, when we create a situation where officers do not feel safe, and as MPs we need to work with these security people so that we will be able to create an enabling environment within that area so that the security people will be able to assist and help us.

I want to encourage my Hon Colleagues that when the time comes and our own citizens, friends, family members, and constituents—Somebody, with a greater respect, is posted to Nakpanduri, comes to see the MP, and say they want to be transferred to Accra, and we see the MP putting pressure for transfer. The rules are that we are supposed to spread even the little that we have thinly across the country. Now everybody wants to be in the big city. Everyone is putting pressure that they want the transfer. I want MPs to support us.

When it comes and their constituents come forward to tell Hon Members that they want to be transferred, encourage them to also stay where they are. This is because if everybody moves to Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Sunyani and the big cities, who will be there to provide security for the vulnerable ones in those disadvantaged communities? So, I want to encourage my Hon Colleagues from that area to help by establishing this community policing.

I can assure Hon Members that we have a whole directorate at the police headquarters that deal with community policing. We will be swift in time to come in to assist. That is the assurance I will give. I want the Member for Parliament to try and keep the collaboration with the Regional Police Commander so that this one that has been reported will be dealt with. Those that have not been reported, if the facts are there, please report them and we can assure the Hon Member that we will work at them. It is just too unfortunate that if any citizen has to lose his life, or has to be kidnapped, or has to go missing, we are not able to find that person swiftly.

But I can assure you, Mr Speaker, and my Hon Colleagues, that we will work very hard with our own Hon Colleagues, to be able to unravel most of these difficult situation that we find ourselves in.

Mr Speaker, I want to thank my Hon Colleague for trying to draw the attention of this country, and in particular, those of us who have the privilege to work within the security environment on some of the challenges that are in his Constituency.
Thank you so much, Mr Speaker