Government will support formula to end Dagbon crisis – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said his government will “fully support” any formula agreed by the Asantehene-led committee to bring lasting peace to Dagbon in the Northern Region.

On Tuesday, 5 September 2017 the Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, revealed that leaders of the Abudu and Anadni families in Dagbon have agreed to resume peace talks at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi following the intervention of an inter-ministerial committee set by the government to unite the two families.

Last year, the Abudu royals in Dagbon protested against the Asantehene-led committee to mediate the Dagbon chieftaincy impasse between the two royals. The process then stalled following the protest.

Nana Akufo-Addo, interacting with the overlord of Gonjaland, Yagbonwura Tuntumba Boresa (I), at the Flagstaff House in Accra on Friday, 8 September said the Dagbon crisis is a matter of high priority for government.

“It is now over 15 years since Dagbon has been going through all these unnecessary problems. My former boss, President J. A Kufuor was very wise in establishing this group of eminent persons of traditional rulers to try and find a resolution to the problem. It has been difficult, one step forward, two steps backwards; that is what has been going on but my understanding is that now the possibilities for it is very strong,” he stated.

He continued: “I just want to say two things. First, peace in Dagbon doesn’t just involve Dagbon, it involves the whole of Ghana. It is a matter of high national priority that we should get Dagbon stabilised and at peace.

“Secondly, whatever formula you the traditional rulers, yourself, the Nayiri and the Asantehene agree on as the way forward and as the roadmap for resolving the crisis in Dagbon, will have the full support of my government and me. We are prepared to support fully any formula that you devise or think will bring a lasting resolution of the problem. It is in the interest of all of us that this matter of Dagbon is put to rest...it is retarding the progress of the area.

“So I’m appealing through you to the other eminent chiefs to put your shoulders fully to the wheel to see what you can do to give us a formula. I’ll love to see that this year, by the Damba festival in December, there is a new Ya Naa in Yendi.”

The Dagbon crisis began in 2002 after the gruesome murder of the king, Ya Naa Yakubu Andani II. The Abudu and Andani gates have since been at loggerheads over who should become the next Ya Naa.