The Nayiri, Overlord of Mamprugu, has formally rejected a mediation report on the Bawku Chieftaincy Dispute presented by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, describing it as flawed, biased and incapable of binding the parties or guiding government action.
In a statement issued on December 17, 2025, the Nayiri said the document presented to President John Dramani Mahama a day earlier did not reflect his engagements with the mediator or the work of his duly constituted mediation team. He distanced both his office and the Mamprugu people from what he repeatedly described as a “so-called report and recommendations.”
According to the Nayiri, the mediation process never produced a consensus and, by its own nature, could not lawfully result in enforceable conclusions. He stressed that Otumfuo had acted as a mediator, not an arbitrator, and therefore had no mandate to make determinations, pass judgment, or propose enforcement measures.
He said no formal terms of reference were ever provided to guide the mediation, despite repeated requests by his team, and questioned how recommendations could be reached without giving the parties the chance to respond to the reasoning behind them. At no point, he said, were Mamprugu representatives invited to comment on or validate the conclusions now being circulated.
The Nayiri argued that a proper mediation report should fairly capture the positions of all sides, emphasize areas of agreement and disagreement, and record only outcomes reached through consent. Instead, he said, the document relied heavily on selective committee reports and court decisions, contained factual inaccuracies, and largely ignored Mamprugu’s case while favouring one party’s narrative.
He flatly denied claims that he ever agreed to the continued recognition of Aninchema as Bawku Naba, describing such assertions as false. He also expressed concern that both parties to the mediation were absent when the report was presented, even as it was being portrayed as having their acceptance.
The Nayiri said he felt betrayed and deeply hurt by the process and warned that any attempt by government to issue a definitive position based on the report would undermine peace rather than promote it. He urged the President to engage fully with all parties and the mediator before taking any action.
Emphasising that the mediation ended in a clear deadlock, he said the Mamprugu side made concessions in good faith at the mediator’s request, concessions later acknowledged by the President, but these were rejected outright by the Kusasi side. In such circumstances, he argued, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act required the mediator to report the deadlock, not to impose conclusions.
The Nayiri reaffirmed his commitment to peace, dialogue and stability in Bawku and the wider Mamprugu area, but warned that peace cannot be built on injustice or imposed outcomes.
He called on the people of Mamprugu to remain calm and law-abiding, even as he vowed not to concede “even an inch” of Mamprugu’s ancestral heritage through what he described as a predetermined process.
He said any lasting solution to the Bawku dispute must be transparent, impartial and grounded in law, history and consent, while respecting the dignity of all traditional authorities.
The statement, he added, was issued to clarify his position and prevent misinformation, with a more comprehensive engagement with the Asantehene and government expected in due course.
