Aggrieved Kpembe indigenes question the neutrality of Kpembewura

When President John Mahama started his campaign in the Northern Region as a son of the Gonja Land, he paid a courtesy call on the newly enskinned chief of Salaga, Kpembewura Daari Haruna Bismark to pay homage.

It was at the ceremony that the new Kpembewura, urged the people of Kpembe and all true Gonjas, as well as the Ghanaian electorate, to turn out in their numbers on Election Day and vote massively for President Mahama, looking at the numerous infrastructure projects and development that he has brought to the region.

But now with his latest supposed endorsement of NPP’s Nana Addo, most residents are not happy and are aggrieved and upset about the new chief’s double tongue and questions his neutrality and credibility.

Some of them are saying if he wanted to be in politics, he shouldn’t have ascended the skin, since it would bring a lot of problems, endorsing a son of the soil for developmental gains and at the same time endorsing the NPP.

Even before that the Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur had met a delegation of chiefs from the Gonja Traditional Area, who called on him to announce the passing of the Kpembewura, Abubakari Sulemana Nyen-Churo Ebore II, at the Flagstaff House.

The group invited Vice President Amissah-Arthur to the enskinment of the successor; Haruna Dare at Kpembe on August 14, while the outdooring was slated on August 21.

Besides, the delegation also informed Vice President Amissah-Arthur of the selection of a new successor for the late Kpembewura.

He assured the delegation that the government would be fully represented at the funeral of the late chief.

The Vice President Kwesi Amissah –Arthur then led the government team to the outdooring of the new Kpembewura Babanye known in private life as Bismarck Haruna Daare, which was on Sunday and it was a well-attended ceremony in Kpembe.

The indigenes are upset because in their view it is a taboo for a Gonja chief to have openly declared political support and approval for two contending parties in a contest. They said after all the Kpembewura has one vote just as any Ghanaian. They have therefore vowed not to be moved by his latest endorsement.

Kpembewura Babanye who was a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the 2000 election in the Salaga constituency, also served as a District Chief Executive (DCE) for the then East Gonja District between 2001 and 2005 lauded the NDC government for the numerous development projects that they have done for the region.

It was an opportunity for a display of Gonja culture in Kpembe with Chiefs, Elders, Princes, Princesses and the people of the area all dressed in their beautiful Gonja smocks and other regalia to commemorate the occasion. Singbunwura Haruna Dari Bismark prior to his new position was the head of the Singbung gate of Kpembe.

The new Kpembewura as a former Teacher and a politician one would have thought that he would stay out of politics based on his new position .But on Thursday, September 1, 2016, when Nana Akufo-Addo, together with national and regional party stalwarts, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Kpembe, in the Salaga South constituency of the Northern Region.

He alleged to have said that the NPP will secure a good victory in the December presidential election, by a margin of not less than 53%.

According to the Gonja Chief, who was enskinned in August this year, “when I look into the crystal ball, I can see victory for the NPP. I want to assure you that I am still a friend, and you can always depend on me. As I said, if God wants to do something, He begins from one. He has done it for me, and He will do it for you.”

Advising the NPP flagbearer not to depart from his issues-based campaign, he urged Nana Akufo-Addo to continue to “tell the people of Ghana what you will do for them.

The people of Ghana are ready to hear from you, and I hope the next time we meet like this, you will be His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo.”

Kpembewura Babanye Ndefosu II was certain that “the Lord, God, is listening to what we are telling Him today. There isn’t so much talk. God has done it. I have seen it (an NPP victory) in my dreams. Shaking hands with you this evening, I have seen something you haven’t seen.”

He, thus, urged the people of Kpembe, as well as the Ghanaian electorate, to turn out in their numbers on Election Day and vote massively, stressing that “I predict nothing less than 53% victory for you.”

In concluding, the Kpembewura asked Nana Akufo-Addo to look into the possibility of carving out another region from the Northern Region, to “enable the equitable distribution of the natural resources of the region, as well as the rapid development of the livelihoods of the citizenry.”