Fracas At Wuaku Commission

Verbal assaults lasting ten long minutes erupted yesterday between the Andani and Abudu gates appearing before the resumed Wuaku Commission sittings.

The exchange of insults, allegations and curses was so intense that, but for the timely intervention of the populous security personnel at the place, it could have degenerated into combat.

In fact for the brief period the attacks lasted the proceedings were brought to a standstill.

The course of the confrontation was that one Abudulai Andani from the Andani gate accused one Bawa Baba, an Abudu that he was making fan of one of their chiefs to the effect that he could not speak English.

According to Andani, the behaviour of Bawa was reported to one of the security officers.

He added that the officer went to inquire about the issue, which angered the Abudu man, to shout on top of his voice.

He continued that, another security officer went to Andani to find out what was the problem.

Andani narrating the issue to the press explained that as the security man was talking to him the Abuduman (Bawa) came out and boasted that none of the Andanis could beat him.

He too, did not take the words kindly and therefore, ordered a free for all fight outside the commission's hall.

Meanwhile, the most senior man among the Andani Gate Fisheini Ziblim, who is also the Konkon-Na (chief of Konkon) has told the commission that he had seen Abubakari Ahmeed Usif, an NPP Constituency secretary, on a motor-bike leading a truck loaded with soldiers which stopped at the Ya-Na palace.

According to the Konkon-Na, when Mr. Usif, the Yendi District coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) reached the palace, he pointed at the palace to the soldiers.

The moment he pointed out to the soldiers, according to Ziblim they began to fire at the Gbewa palace.

Asked to state where he was when he saw the NPP secretary, the chief said "I was standing behind a short wall of the palace, trying to escape."

Defending himself before the commission, Mr. Usif revealed that he had received an intelligence report from a friend at Tamale on a meeting held by the Andanis to implicate the Abudus.

According to the NADMO officer, the report, as hinted by the friend, was a planned list of names of Abudu's to be made available to the police.

The source, as revealed to the commission, the Andani's were looking for people amongst them to be taught how to label allegations against the Abudus in order to arrest them.

Mr. Usif said he made a report to the police on this issue on the April 15, this year, after receiving the information.

Mr. Usif, also told the commission that the konkon-Na Ziblim knows him to be the NPP constituency secretary for Yendi and the konkon-Na belongs o NDC, hence the allegation.

According to the NPP secretary, during the electioneering campaigns he used to go to Konkon village to campaign for his party, on a motorbike and that is why the witness pointed out that he was on a motorbike.

The Konkon-Na, earlier told the Commission that after he had celebrated the 'Bugu' festival at his village konkon, on Monday March 25, 2002 had a message from the Ya-Na to report at the Gbewa palace immediately.

He agreed that three of his children, namely Wumbie, Mahama, Alhassan Fusheini and Mohammed Ziblim were sent to the Gbewa palace, but declined to say that they were there to fight.

He told the commission that the late Dagbon king only ordered the Andani's to open fire, but not to kill anybody, as a measure to get the Abudu's back from attacking the palace.