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Bawku’s actual cost: Measured in cedis—and lives

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Introduction

Ghana’s northeastern tip frontier town, Bawku, has become the epicentre of one of the country’s most enduring and costly security challenges. Since 2021, decades-old ethnic tensions—primarily between the Mamprusi and Kusasi groups—have reignited with deadly consequences. Scores of residents have fled, education and health systems have collapsed, and the state is now spending hundreds of millions of cedis annually on military interventions.

This explainer combines historical analysis, official budgetary records, and current eyewitness accounts to quantify the actual cost of the Bawku crisis between 2021 and mid-2025, both in direct financial terms and in social and human losses.

The Roots of a Recurrent Conflict

Bawku’s volatility is no recent phenomenon. Researchers such as Felix Y.T. Longi trace its origin to colonial-era chieftaincy decisions that imposed a Mamprusi chief over a predominantly Kusasi population. The 1957 independence era saw Kusasis seeking autonomy, sparking a dual-chieftaincy crisis that has flared repeatedly, often in sync with political transitions.

The Mamprusis have long aligned with the political tradition that evolved into the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), while Kusasis now largely back the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). This ethno-political divide has only intensified hostilities, making Bawku a symbolic and strategic hotspot.

As recently as December 2021, the final funeral rites for Mamprusi chief Alhaji Adam Azamgbegu—41 years after his death—triggered renewed violence. Gun battles erupted, homes were torched, and schools closed indefinitely.

Security Spending: A Ballooning Burden

Bawku-Specific Deployments and Operations (2021–2024):

In 2023, the government established a dedicated Bawku Conflict Task Force under the Ministry of National Security. This force and the broader Operation Conquered Fist have dominated budget lines in recent years.

Schools, Hospitals, and Daily Life: The Hidden Costs

Perhaps the gravest cost is not fiscal but human. Since 2022, nearly 500 basic school teachers have been forced to flee Bawku. Most public schools remain shuttered, and hospitals have closed amid persistent gunfire and military lockdowns.

“Where is our future if our kids cannot go to school because schools have shut down? Even our health situation has worsened, and our people die from common malaria,” lamented Mohammed Tahiru Nambe, a lawyer and Mamprusi member of the Bawku Inter-Ethnic Peace Committee.

His Kusasi counterpart, Maxwell Agbambilla, added: “We are impoverishing ourselves with the continued violence. Residents cannot go to work, and children cannot go to school.”

These education-related costs—relocation logistics, emergency rescheduling of exams like the August 2025 WASSCE practicals, trauma counselling—remain unbudgeted but heavily drain public resources.

National Defence & Security Allocations: An Evolving Picture (2021–2024)

Due to fiscal constraints and emergent threats, Ghana’s defence and security spending has fluctuated. The Ministry of Defence and Ministry of National Security (MoNS) budgets offer insight into some of these trends:

YearDefence Budget (GHC)Ministry of National Security (MoNS) Budget (GHC)Context
2021GHC 2.1bnGHC 707.5m approved; [pg8]
GHC 723.5m spent
No Bawku-specific unit; early warning
2022GHC2.244b [pg8]GHC 816.8m approved; GHC 880,450,089.23 spentBorder FOB planning begins
2023GHC3.743b [appropriation including CAPEX pg9] GHC 969b budget; [pg9]GHC 916.5m spentOperation Conquered Fist launched
2024GHC3,860b [pg10]GHC 1.636bn (1.64bn) [pg9]APCs, FOBs, and intensified deployments

Key Points:

  • The Ministry of National Security’s budget doubled between 2021 and 2024, reflecting increased operations and expanded mandates in intelligence, border safeguarding, and conflict crisis response.
  • Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) compensation in 2021 consumed over GHC 1.7bn, with goods, services, and capex at GHC 192.9m, for a total of GHC 2.1bn—highlighting the significant baseline cost of military readiness.

Cycles of Violence, Cycles of Spending

The Bawku conflict has followed Ghana’s political timeline with chilling regularity:

  • 2000: At least 18 officially confirmed deaths after the NPP took office
  • 2008–2009: 30–45 deaths following the NDC’s return to power
  • 2021–2025: A resurgence sparked by traditional rites, leading to scores of deaths and widespread displacement

Budget highlights (2020–2025):

Procurement:

  • 2024 Defence and MoNS allocations explicitly funded armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and intelligence upgrades attributed to the border operations build-up. 

While itemised costs for each FOB or deployed asset are not public, parliamentary briefings have confirmed that a substantial share of capital expenditure is routed towards these high-risk northern territories.

The Bawku Conflict Task Force: A Dedicated Frontline Budget

In early 2023, a dedicated Bawku Task Force [pg4,10] was established, structured as a standing security and peacekeeping detachment.

Security authorities have publicly justified this budget, although lawmakers occasionally report possible surges depending on the conflict’s escalation cycle. The lack of disaggregated line items for crisis spending in published budgets hampers Independent monitoring and parliamentary oversight.

Detailed Financial Breakdown

Ministry of Defence (MoD) & Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) Budgets 

  • 2021 GAF Compensation: GHC 1,713,039,133
  • 2021 GAF Goods & Services + Capex: GHC 192,924,340
  • Overall MoD programme total (2021): GHC 2.1bn
  • Ministry of National Security (2021–2024) Allocations:
    • 2021: GHC 707,524,481 approved [pg8], GHC 723,532,236 actual
    • 2022: GHC GHC870,505,444.00 approved, GHC 880,450,089.23 
    • 2023[pg9]: GHC 968,087,130.00 budgeted, ~GHC 915,157,914.76 actual (including compensation, goods, services, and capex)
    • 2024: GHC 1,636,239,088, with over GHC 1.28bn for compensation (personnel) and GHC 92m for capex

Although exact northern-border sub-allocations are not itemised in public budget documents, task force spending for Bawku is reported and verifiable.

The connection between security spending and tangible impacts on education—particularly with the imminent WASSCE—is evidenced.

The Price of Conflict

The Bawku conflict’s cost to Ghana is twofold:

  • Direct financial outlays: Emergency responses, troop deployments, equipment, and peacekeeping projects now absorb a significant share of the defence and security budgets.
  • Social and economic disruption: School closures, loss of human capital, and population displacement present “hidden costs” that undermine local development and perpetuate cycles of poverty and insecurity.

Despite the size of the national security budget, there is a lack of transparency in sub-program allocations, particularly for highly sensitive border and emergency operations. This obscures the full cost of interventions and their long-term fiscal implications.

At the same time, rising border violence and the looming terror threat from the Sahel ensure that security outlays are unlikely to decrease in the near term. Rather, the government’s public spending trajectory points to continued investment in border infrastructure, intelligence, and conflict response capacities, if not escalating.

Conclusion

The Bawku conflict is no longer a local disturbance but a national issue with profound implications. While over GHC 100 million is channelled annually into the task force alone, the broader costs—from increased defence procurement to the collapse of education in conflict zones—paint a picture of a crisis draining state resources and human potential. Yet, despite the ramp-up in funding and military deployments, the conflict persists, and oversight remains weak. For Ghana to protect its northern frontier without sacrificing long-term development, future interventions must go beyond hardware and boots on the ground. Transparent budgeting, community-based peacebuilding, and strategic investment in displaced populations are essential to ending the cycle of violence. Otherwise, the actual cost of Bawku will continue to rise—in cedis and lives.

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