By Francis Kobena Tandoh
A private citizen, Yidana Hameed KobigBilla, has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to use his position to ensure justice in Bawku.
In an open letter to the Ghanaian leader, he expressed worry over an ex-party interim injunction secured by the Ghana Police Service barring the Mamprusi from celebrating the 2025 Damba festival in Bawku.
He called on President Mahama to intervene to ensure the Mamprusi people are not denied their constitutional right to celebrate the Damba festival. End item
Source: Ghana Eye Report
Find the open letter to President Mahama below;
AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA
September 30, 2025
By – Yidana Hameed KobigBilla
A CALL FOR JUSTICE IN BAWKU
Your Excellency, John Dramani Mahama
Please forgive the public nature of this letter. I write not out of disrespect, but from a deep sense of urgency and duty. The issues I raise here concern justice, peace, and the very unity of our people in Bawku — matters which must not escape your attention.
You have consistently demonstrated, since your assumption of office and even beyond your tenure, that you are a leader for all Ghanaians — regardless of ethnic, political, or religious affiliation. It is in this spirit of fairness and nationhood that I humbly draw your attention to a grave injustice unfolding in Bawku — an injustice that threatens not only the peace of the area but also the rights and dignity of the Mamprusi people.
Just last week, the Ghana Police Service secured an ex parte interim injunction barring Mamprusis from planning, organising, or celebrating the 2025 Damba Festival in Bawku. This action is not only unfortunate and deeply troubling but also stands in stark contradiction to the democratic principles and inclusive values you have always stood for.
A Dangerous Precedent
This injunction appears to be part of a broader and troubling agenda — one that seeks to suppress the cultural identity of Mamprusis in favour of a partisan, ethnocentric interest. There is a growing perception, Your Excellency, that the decision is politically motivated, particularly as it favours the Kusasi faction, who openly align with the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Senior NDC figures, notably Hon. Mahama Ayariga and Hon. Cletus Avoka, are on public record making statements that suggest an intent to erase Mamprusi cultural presence from Bawku. Their promises to “ban Damba” and “wipe out Mamprusis” from the Bawku Traditional Area are not only inflammatory but dangerous. These are not mere political statements. They are incitements that risk deepening ethnic divisions and triggering unrest.
Cultural Celebration Is Not a Crime
Your Excellency, Damba is not just a festival. It is a time-honoured cultural expression of identity, unity, and peace, celebrated not only by Mamprusis but by many ethnic groups across northern Ghana. It fosters inter-ethnic dialogue, community cohesion, and pride in our shared heritage.
To suggest that its celebration threatens peace is both misleading and unfair. If peace is indeed fragile, then banning Damba only inflames the situation — it punishes one group while emboldening another that benefits from such suppression.
We must ask: Why was the Samanpiid Festival, celebrated by the Kusasis, never banned — not even when gunshots rang out during your visit as guest of honour? You famously responded then, “I am a son of Jakpa, I don’t fear gunshots.” That moment remains etched in our memory — not only for your courage but for your tacit endorsement of cultural celebration in spite of tension.
Why then should Mamprusis be denied the same right to cultural expression?
Justice Must Be Blind — Not Selective
This situation risks further alienating a proud and peaceful people. It sends a message that justice can be politicized, and that cultural expression is a privilege for some but not for others. That is not the Ghana you envisioned, Mr. President. It is not the Ghana we fought to build.
We therefore humbly appeal:
1. Your personal intervention to ensure that Mamprusis are not denied their constitutional right to celebrate the Damba Festival.
2. An end to the use of state institutions — especially the police and courts — to enforce politically motivated and ethnically biased decisions.
3. An urgent call to order for politicians whose actions and words fuel division, particularly Hon. Mahama Ayariga and Hon. Cletus Avoka.
Your Excellency, Bawku does not need more division. It needs leadership that heals, that brings people together, that reminds us that before we are Mamprusi or Kusasi, we are Ghanaians — equal before the law, and entitled to the same rights and protections under the Constitution.
We trust that you, as a statesman and patriot, will rise once more to defend the values you swore to uphold: justice, equality, peace, and national unity.
Thank you for your time and your attention.
Yours sincerely,
A Proud Son of Bawku
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