The Dagbon Chieftaincy Crises must end now!

 
The Chronicle reported yesterday about the moves being made by two ministers – Kofi Dzamesi and Kan Dapaah, on the orders of President Akufo-Addo towards resolving the over 15 year old Dagbon Chieftaincy dispute, which has wreaked havoc in the area.

According to the story, Kofi Dzamesi from the Chieftaincy ministry and Kan Dapaah from the National Security Ministry met the Abudus represented by Bolinlana Abdulai Mahamoudu and the Andanis also represented by Kampakuyana Abdulai Yakubu Andani at their respective palaces.

Before meeting these two leaders, the ministers met their followers, where they assured them of government's commitment to resolve the Dagbon conflict and other chieftaincy disputes in Ghana, to pave the way for an accelerated national peace and development.

According to the ministers, the good vision, programmes and policies of the ruling government could not be achieved in the midst of violence emanating from chieftaincy and land disputes.

In our view, the steps being taken to address the problem are in the right direction.

Since the dispute broke out 15 years ago, succeeding governments have tried to bring it to an end but to no avail.

President John Agyekum Kufuor even constituted a three member committee, dubbed the “Committee of Eminent Chiefs”, which was chaired by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to look into the impasse.

The other two members were the overlord of Mamprugu Traditional Area, the Nayiri Naa-Bahigu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga and the overlord of Gonjaland, Yagbon-Wura Tuntumba Boresa II.

The three eminent chiefs have been working assiduously over the last 10 years to bring an end to the protracted Dagbon chieftaincy crisis.

However, along the line, the committee's sitting stalled when representatives of the Abudu's and Andani's boycotted proceedings, disturbing the full implementation of the roadmap to peace in Dagbon.

The situation followed the mistrust between members of the two royal gates, both of who believed that the eminent chiefs were being biased.

It is against this backdrop that The Chronicle is appealing to the two feuding parties to bury the hatchet, and give peace a chance, so that the whole of the three northern regions in particular and Ghana as a whole, can relish seeing the end of the Dagbon feud this time round.

The Chronicle is further appealing to Ghanaians from the north to consider the drain all these conflicts all over the country is causing on the limited resources of the state and allow the efforts of the Akufo-Addo-led government to resolve the issue.

If indeed, the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Kofi Dzamesi and Minister of National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah are determined to resolve this long standing crises, we are calling on them to contact the Committee of the Eminent Chiefs, who have been working on the issue for the last 10 years, and gather their input before they proceed. We rest our case.