Chieftaincy Clashes Erupt In Wa - One Killed

One person was killed and two others sustained serious gunshot wounds in clashes between factions in the Wa chieftaincy dispute on Wednesday. A stray bullet killed Majida Abubakari, a second year female pupil of the Falahia Islamic Junior Secondary School in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, while she was preparing bread flour in her house. An ex-Police Sergeant and a tradesman Daudi Wanabile, who sustained injuries are on admission at the Wa Regional Hospital.

Twenty-two people have been arrested in connection with the clashes. They are being questioned to ascertain their roles in the gun battle, which erupted during the celebration of the Damba Festival.

Tension had been building in the Wa Township since the Supreme Court on May 28 heard a motion filed by the Yijihi, Maheri and Jonywohi Gates against the National House of Chiefs(quote) ruling in the Wa chieftaincy dispute. The ruling favoured Alhaji Yakubu Seidu of the Nakpaha Gate. After the Supreme Court ruling both sides in the dispute claimed victory with the Nakpaha Gate going ahead to celebrate the annual "Damba" festival which had been put on hold due to the absence of a substantive Wa-Na.

Eyewitnesses said Alhaji Seidu and his supporters were celebrating the festival last night when some members of the other three gates allegedly fired shots at them. The Ghana News Agency reports an elder of the Nakpaha Gate on condition of anonymity, as saying that they received information from Accra that the Supreme Court had dismissed the three gates(quote) application for appeal so they sought permission from the Regional Security Council to celebrate the festival.

The three gates, however, maintained that the court had granted their application for appeal and it would be contemptuous of the court and a breach of the peace in the area if Alhaji Seidu performed functions as Wa-Na while the appeal was pending.