An educational peace ceremony in Ghana’s conflict prone region Bawku has been halted by new clashes of students in escalation of a conflict between second cycle educational institutions on Tuesday.
A Ghana Education Service (GES) peace ceremony in Bawku involving two second cycle educational institutions, Bawku Senior High School and Bawku Technical Institute, has turned violent after students from both ends entered into clashes leading to five learners injured.
Bawku, home to about 119,458 people and located in upper east of the country is Ghana’s most conflict prone region, and has been under serially occurring conflicts some due to chieftaincy, political, ownership of land and terrorism reasons.
Bawku on Ghana map
The latest conflict in the region has involved two secondary schools, Bawku Senior High School and Bawku Technical Institute though the latest tension is traced back to March 2023. The two schools are known to be among the powerful institutions of Ghana Education Service’s senior high school service in the territory.
There is a clear case of almost a two-year conflict that has been rekindled in February 2025. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has reported authorities in area, comprising of the GES, Kpalwega traditional rulers and authorities from the two schools, have attempted to resolve the conflict launching and implementing a peace ceremony on Tuesday to ensure peace in Bawku.
The peace ceremony, propelled to incorporate a set of activities most of which were to be led by leaders of each schools, has led to escalation of the conflict on Tuesday with at least five students sustaining serious injuries and several others suffering minor wounds from the new clashes between students of the schools.
Authorities in the region have not reported details of the injuries. And because of this, Futball Surgery is not able to tell the specific number of injured students belong to each of Bawku Senior High School and Bawku Technical Institute.
The intended to bring peace in the area event was held at Bawku Technical Institute, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institution, one of the education program offering Ghanaian youth an educational and industrial career pathways.
Citinews has reported that the traditional leaders as part of the peace process proposed the burial of an okra stick, a symbolic ritual meant to promote unity and reconciliation. However, tensions unexpectedly escalated during the ceremony, leading to students throwing stones at each other.
The Bawku Divisional Police Command quickly intervened to restore calm, while the injured students were taken to Quality and Vineyard hospitals in Bawku for medical attention.
Despite the violence, school authorities and the Ghana Education Service (GES) went ahead with the planned ritual. The ceremony was successfully completed with the participation of the senior prefects from both schools, signaling a commitment to peace.
There is a debate as to whether the clashes are to be taken as a setback to the event or an event that halted the peace ceremony.
Bawku’s position and its history of armed conflicts make the region a key pathway for Ghana suffer insurgent attacks.
The government of Ghana is keeping a close eyes about potential spillover from jihadist activities in Burkina Faso, particularly with the influx of displaced Burkinabe across porous borders.
Ghana’s concern for extremists attacks especially in northern region is worsened by poverty in Bawku, increasing vulnerability to exploitation by criminal and jihadist groups amidst worsening economic conditions, and the proliferation of arms due to ongoing chieftaincy conflicts.
Furthermore, Ghanaian state officials are worried that extremists may exploit the state of insecurity to target Ghana’s gold industry to fund their activities.
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