Bawku
Town and district capital in Upper East Region, Ghana
Bawku is a town in and the capital of Bawku Municipal District, Upper East Region, in north Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. The municipality has a total land area of about 257 km2. It was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I) 2103. In 2021, Bawku had a population of 119,458 people.
01Cultural and tourist sites
Naa Gbewaa shrine
The "tomb" of Naa Gbewaa, a shrine to the founder of the Mamprusi, Dagomba, and Nanumba tribes, is located just a few kilometers from Bawku in Pusiga, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The shrine is thought to have been built in the 14th century, and it is a place of spiritual reverence.
02Bawku conflict
The Bawku conflict is a long-standing chieftaincy and ethnic dispute primarily between the Kusasi and Mamprusi communities in and around the Bawku Municipal District, near the border with Burkina Faso, dating back to 1957. Rooted in the colonial indirect-rule framework and sharpened by post-independence policy reversals, the dispute centres on claims to the paramount chieftaincy (the Bawku skin) and associated land authority. Periodic escalations have led to deaths, injuries, displacement, curfews, and significant economic and social disruption. In July 2025, the government again deployed additional soldiers and tightened curfews following renewed violence, including attacks on schools.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bawku”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Bawku, Ghana - panoramio.jpg by Simon Ontoyin, CC BY-SA 3.0
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