Tension Brews In Dagbon, As ...

...Two Arrested For Destruction Of Work On Ya-Na’s Temporary Palace The Yendi police yesterday arrested two persons following their alleged involvement in the destruction of the foundation work on the temporary palace being put up for the Ya-Na.

The suspects, Kparishe-Na and Kulkuldoo, have since been granted bail to enable the police carry out further investigation.

The palace is being put up to enable the widows of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani take residence in it in preparation for the final internment of the King’s remains.

The police explained that there was tension in Yendi after the arrest of the two persons. Meanwhile, work on the temporary palace for the Ya-Na has been delayed six weeks after the sod was cut for the project. This is due largely to a communication gap between the two feuding families in the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis, coupled with disagreements over the number of rooms to be put up at the new site and the question of who qualifies to occupy those rooms.

Concrete blocks for the laying of foundation have already been conveyed to the site which was cleared about two months ago. Pipelines have also been extended to the area.

The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Ernest Debrah, disclosed this to newsmen at Yendi at the weekend. The minister was briefing the press after a meeting with a six-member team from some United Nations agencies at Yendi.

The UN team, led by Mr Sammy Kumbuo, Director of Political Affairs at the UN Headquarters, included Mr Franklin Asamoah-Mensah, assistant resident representative of the UNDP in Ghana and Mr Ade Lekoetje of the UNDP Africa Bureau in New York.

The rest were Chetan Kumari of the UNDP Bureau Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Gay Rosemblum of the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs and Prince Mahama Mohammed of the UNICEF.

The team was in the area to acquaint itself with the crisis and to see how they could support the government to achieve sustainable peace in the area.

Mr Debrah said all efforts were being made to facilitate the process to enable the return of the widows of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II to take residence in the palace in preparation for the internment of the king’s remains.

In this regard, he said, members of the sub-committee set up by the three eminent chiefs to oversee the construction of the palace will meet the leadership of the two factions this week to see how they could resolve the impasse.

Mr Kumbuo commended the government for its untiring efforts and ensuring peace in the sub-region and expressed the commitment of the UN to support the government to realise its objectives.

Among the various groups the team interacted with in its two-day stay were the Northern Regional Security Council, representatives of the Andani Family in Tamale and the Yendi District Security Committee and the leadership of the Abudu Family in Yendi.