Dagombas asked not to politicise Dagbon crisis

Accra, March 28, GNA - Alhaji Basit Fuseini, former Ghanaian Ambassador to Libya, on Monday asked factions in the Dagbon Chieftaincy dispute not to politicise what he described as " their different perspectives" about traditional practices in the Dagbon Traditional Area.

"Since the first republic, both Abudu's and Andani's have tended to politicise their differences although the solution to the problems of Dagbon is purely local," he said.

Alhaji Fuseini, former Northern Regional Minister and a leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, said linking of traditional matters with politics was a serious mistake, which would be very difficult to overcome.

He stressed: "Nothing happens in Dagbon now without people attributing it to politics".

Alhaji Fuseini appealed to the youth to be dispassionate about all issues that had the tendency to keep Dagbon permanently divided. " If the youth do not strive to unite Dagbon then the people risk the possibility of being marginalized," he said.

He appealed to Abudu's and Andani's to forge unity of purpose to grant the slain King, Yana Yakubu Andani II a befitting burial and ensure a peaceful enskinment of his successor.

The late King and over 30 of his traditional elders died on March 27, 2002 in a violent conflict that erupted during the celebration of the annual fire (Bugum) festival at Yendi, the traditional Kingdom. The Andani faction used the third anniversary of the murder of the Ya Na to express disappointment at the delay in the burial of their king and failure to punish the perpetrators.

Speaking at a press conference to commemorate the day in Accra, Dr Yahooza Gomda, Spokesperson for the Andani's blamed the Abudu's for forestalling the burial of the King.

President John Agyekum Kufuor set up a Committee of three eminent chiefs chaired by Otumfuo, the Asantehene to handle the traditional aspects, which includes the burial, installation of a Regent and the enskinment of a new Ya Na.