Tampulma Youth Assocaition's Rebuttal To The A Press Release By Certain Individuals From Lingbinsi-Daboya On The 31st March, 2018

The attention of the Tampulma Youth Association (TYA) and the Tampulma Traditional Council (TTC) has been drawn to a meeting held at Lingbinsi near Daboya on the Saturday the 31st of March, 2018 by agents of the Wasipe Palace seeking to resolve the impasse between Tampulmas and Gonjas in the North Gonja District.

The group alleged among other things including the following:

(i) That leadership of Tampulma communities showed their commitment to the Gonja Traditional Council as regards to the recent disturbances in the area.

(ii) That these disturbances in the area which led to the death of two people and loss of properties including foodstuffs worth thousands of Ghana Cedis was the creation of the Paramount Chief of the Tampulma Traditional Area, Kadichari-Tina (Musah Mahamadu II)

(iii) That plans were underway to get a legitimate Paramount Chief for the Tampulma ethnic group using appropriate channels and procedures.

Prior to the meeting, this group had earlier distributed letters to all the over thirty communities across the Tampulma area inviting them to sent two persons each to attend a peace meeting at Lingbinsi to which all the communities rejected.

The group therefore went ahead to conduct the meeting based solely on impersonation. Among the four chiefs they claimed attended the meeting included the Tampulma Yagbon-Tina of Tampulma Yagbon. The said skin is vacant. The last occupant Yagbon Tina Ahini passed on three years ago and the community is yet to enskin one. How could such a chief attend a meeting.

Secondly, the convener of the meeting a “mocked” reagent of the late Kankoora of Lingbinsi is a distant family related grandson of the late Chief of Lingbinsi and has no direct blood relationship with the late chief. So how could such a person serve as a reagent to the late chief and go ahead to conduct a meeting not only to Lingbinsi, but for the whole Tampulma area communities comprising of over thirty communities?

Tampunaa from Gbasimpa who was also addressed as Tamplim-Tina of Gbasimpa is not known to be a chief in the Tampulma area. He is a chief from Gambaga-Lingbinsi area who returned to his current location without a community under his jurisdiction. He is therefore a Zongo chief in the Tampulma area.

Kpariya-Tina, the chief of Kpariya was not present in person and was only represented by unknown face in such a crucial meeting.

Back to the main issue, Tampulmas never committed any offence against any persons or group of people which will require them to show commitment to the Gonja Traditional Council.

The people of Wasipe including their hired troops from Damongo and Daboya burned down two Tampulma communities including Dissah and Salugu leading to loss of two lives and properties including foodstuffs worth thousands of Ghana Cedis under no any provocation from these communities.

As it stands now, the Tampulma Youth Association and the Tampulma Traditional Council are still looking up to the Regional Security Council and the Security Agencies to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book to face the laws of the country. While women and children are still struggling to get shelter to lay their heads and food to eat and are exposed to this harsh weather, as a result of this dastardly act by these Gonjas, these hardhearted individuals including Sammy Wusah Bavug , Saaka Danladi, Wusah Bahie, Gabriel Nzimba Wusah and Yahaya Bugli who are married to Gonja women and doing the bidding of their in-laws, Harry Bavug Loriba also from Lingbinsi and Alidu Mahama from Wawa who are maternally Gonjas and championing the cause of their uncles are portraying themselves as brokers of peace with the Gonjas who caused the suffering of these poor souls. As for Asafo Bavug and Sulley Conny (Lingbinsi Jahanfo) they are only following the crowd.

On the claim that, Paramount chief of the Tampulma Traditional Area caused the recent disturbances is neither here nor there. In November 2011 the same Gonjas from the Wasipe Palace burnt down Kutula a Mamprusi community in the Mankarigu area when the current chief was not on the throne.

Thus, the act of burning down communities at the least provocation is a speciality of the Gonjas from Wasipe Palace and that is why the perpetrators of the recent crime has to be brought to book and punished for the failure to punish the perpetrators of 2011 incident has motivated these miscreants to repeat the current act.

Regarding the assertion that plans are underway to get a legitimate Paramount chief for Tampulmas is vague. Gonjas do not have any right to enskin a chief for Tampulmas since they are not the same tribe and do not have the same culture and traditions.

The current Paramount chief Kadichari-Tina (Musah Mahamadu II) succeeded his father Kadichari-Tina (Musah Mahama I) who was duly installed a chief by the rightful Kingmakers of the Tampulma Traditional Council based on Tampulma culture and traditions and headed by Tampulma Yagbon-Tina Bawa of Tampulma Yagbon the head of Kingmakers in the Tampulma Traditional Area on the 18th June, 2000AD. Tampulma Yagbon-Tina Bawa was assisted by the following;

(i) Kpariya Tina (Kubache Tina of Kpariya)
(ii) Tamplim-Tina (Takora Bukari of Mankarigu)
(iii) A representative of Kankoora of Lingbinsi
(iv) Nyankpan-Tina of Tari No 1
(v) Asumah Bafifi of Gbasimpa No 1
(vi) A representative of Mamprusi communities’ chiefs in the Tampulma Area (Mampeasem-Tina Azindow of Mampeasem).

This took place after Kadichari-Tina(Musah Mahama I) had in consultation with all the people of Tampulma land through their representatives the chiefs performed the funeral of our late King Kadichari-Tina Dorka of blessed memory who passed on in the Seventeenth century (C17th). The above Kingmakers are legitimate Kingmakers of Tampulma land as far as Tampulma culture and traditions are concerned.

Thus, the assertion that, a legitimate Paramount chief will be enskinned for Tampulmas using the appropriate channels and procedures; cannot be said to be of Tampulma culture and traditions and will therefore not be accepted by the people of Tampulma land.

The genesis of whole issue is that, when the people of Wasipe palace realised that they were losing hold of Tampulma land after enskinment of Kadichari-Tina (Musah Mahama I) they turned the Tampulma area into an insecurity zone by the use of intimidation, suppression and attacks and threats of war at the slightest misunderstanding.

These threats and attacks came to a climax last January when they deployed a battalion of warriors to burn down the two communities (Dissah and Salugu) on the 13th and 14th of January, 2018 in desperation to cow down the Tampulma people. When they realised violence was not the answer to their problem, they decided to change the modus operandi, by trying to enskin a Tampulma as chief for Tampulmas who will serve as an appendage for their continues hold to the Tampulma area. Their first attempt was to ask Kpariya-Tina to call for a meeting of all Tampulmas communities at Kpariya which they will announce to the people that they were installing him as the paramount chief of all Tampulmas.

The meeting that was called by the latter, no single Tampulma community attended since all Tampulmas had realised that Kpariya-Tina was already serving as an appendage of Wasipe Palace. In the second instance, Wasipe Palace again decided to carry the late Kankoora of Lingbinsi to the second meeting of Commission of Enquiry into the creation of the new regions at Damongo where they could introduce him as Paramount chief of all Tampulmas to the Gonja Traditional Council. A bus sent to Linbginsi to pick the chief on the eve of the meeting got there to be told that the chief had just passed on and the second attempt also failed.

The next line of action was to support the organisation of the 31st March,2018 meeting organised by their surrogates who due to their posture, knew nothing about Tampulma culture and traditions went ahead to use a “mocked” reagent to dethroned a whole Paramount chief which the Kankoora himself when he was alive could not do same.

At this juncture, the Tampulma Youth Association and Tampulma Traditional Council wish to make it clear to the organisers of the said meeting and their paymasters (the Wasipe Palace) that all the over thirty communities across the Tampulma land including Mamprusis are solidly behind their Paramount chief Kadichari-Tina (Musah Mahamadu II) and that nothing can make the ethnic group change this status quo as he was legally enskinned. That, no amount of manipulation, intimidation, suppression and threats of attacks by Wasipe Palace will create a change in the minds of the Tampulma people in this direction.

They are further advising the Wasipewura and his cohorts to stay away from Tampulma land and allow the people to live in peace and carry out their farming activities for the die is cast and no turning back no matter the circumstances in which the Tampulma people find themselves.

We are again using this oppotunityto plead strongly to the Regional Security Council and the law enforcement Agencies to step up their search for the perpetrators of the January 13th and 14th attacks on Tampulmas which led to burning of two communities for the law to take its course to forestall such future occurrences.

Thank you.
Mr. Bugli Musah ………………………….

Vice Chairman, TYA
Mr. Amadu Latif ……………………………

Vice Secretary, TYA/Secretary & Spokesperson, TTC
0248254914/0207359426
Gyima Yawom ……………………………

Trustee, TYA
Bugbila Muniru …………………………

Member
Banuha Abdulai ……………………….

Member