Abudus Beating War Drums

The minority Abudus in Dagbon who murdered the Ya-Naa in cold blood at his palace in 2002 are once again planning to unleash terror in Dagbon.I was part of a team sent to Yendi to assess the security situation in that part of Dagbon and report as such. On the night of the 10th of April 2005 information got to us that a gang belonging to the Abudus are planning to attack the Kuga –Naa.Prior to that we had seen some movements by the Abudus indicating that there was something at stake. There are even rumors that cache of arms have been moved to that part of Dagbon to unleash terror during and after the burial of the Ya-Naa. Report was made to the security agencies that night and security was tightened to ensure that there was no such attack.

One big question that keeps bothering my mind is why are the Abudus doing all these in spite of them forming only fifteen percent of Dagbon population? People do say that the Abudus belong to the N.P.P and the Andanis belonging to N.D.C.I beg to differ. When you look at the Andani royal family they did not come to power during AFRC, PNDC or NDC regimes. Why should they be said to belong to Rawlings tradition? The Abudu royal family on the other hand since 1969 came to power under the influence of the Busia/Danquah tradition led by the progress party and the N.P.P. The government of the N.P.P. led by President Kufuor must now be aware that their government have been trapped by the Abudus.They have made everybody to believe that the government of N.P.P. is fully behind them and are prepared to use the security forces to fight on behalf of the Abudus when the need arises. This is visible in their utterances and actions.

If the thinking and utterances of the Abudus are not true, why has the government not arrested anybody in connection with the murder of Ya-Naa and forty (40) of his followers? Why are the Abudus in spite of the murders they have caused are still planning to unleash terror on Dagbon and possibly kill the traditional overseer the Kuga Naa to achieve their aim?

I get sick when I hear people referring to what happened in Yendi as a war. They should tell us how many Abudus lost their lives. As far as I know there can not a war without the other conflicting party registering some deaths. There has never been a situation where those who refer this unfortunate situation as war tell us that Abudus also lost their lives. We only hear of the Ya-Naa and forty (40) of his followers who lost their lives. This was clearly an invasion and not a war. The crime scene was the Ya-Naa palace and nowhere else. How could the Ya-Naa who was clearly killed in his palace including forty (40) members of his household said to have died in a war. People who should know better like legal governance consultants, journalist, and political commentators should always be careful when analyzing the Dagbon issue. Some of them do end up displaying their intellectual dishonesty in their submissions.

Some of these political commentators most of the time reduce the Dagbon problem to only Yendi .If they care to know the problem is above Yendi and the minority Abudu gate. They should understand that the Ya-Naa is the King of Dagbon and not only Yendi. Much of Dagbon Kingdom is in the west of Dagbon state. More than eighty percent of Dagbon is in the west including Tamale and the surrounding districts. Currently rumors gathered indicates that in the event of another war in Dagbon it is not going to be only Yendi.People have vowed to engage in full scale war throughout Dagbon.People should not think that when there is war in Yendi other areas are to be quiet. People are prepared to massacre close neighbors in the city, towns, villages and hamlets. When there is trouble, nobody is going to sit in the comfort of his home or office to watch on T.V Set. There is going to be lost of lives and property.

The Abudu gate are aligning themselves to the Danquah/Busia tradition has created disaffection for the N.P.P. in Dagbon. The Abudu gate relationship with the Danquah/Busia tradition is a farce. No benefit has been achieved by the NPP .All the key personalities including the chiefs who are identified to be spokes persons of the Abudu gate did not help the NPP to win any seat in their constituencies.

The Bamvim-Lana Mahamadu Abdulai who is a registered voter and comes from Tamale South constituency did not help the NPP to win the seat. They lost heavily to Lawyer Haruna Iddrisu.

The Nanton Naa Alhaji Sulemana also made the NPP to fall heavily in Nanton constituency.

The Korili Regent who is from the Zabzugu/Tatale constituency did not help the NPP to win the seat.

The Tolon Regent Major Abubakari Sulemana who is from the Tolon constituency did not also get the numbers for the NPP to win the seat.

The Mion Lana Alhaji Ziblim also did not help the NPP to win the Mion constituency seat for the NPP. One could mention several others. The NPP must repackage itself to win the sympathy Dagombas in the near future. They should disentangle the party from Chieftaincy matters and be neutral and be prepared to deal with criminals who want to use the government as a cover to unleash terror on law abiding citizens.

The future of Dagbon is in the hands of the NPP government. The NPP must be bold enough to tell its allies that government will not spare any body trying to disturb the peace. The Abudus must be made to understand that any government in power is a government for the people and not for a particular group of people.