Govt will appeal against the Ya- Na murder judgement

Accra, March30, GNA- Alhaji Sumani Abukari MP for Tamale North, on Wednesday said government would appeal against the no case verdict of an Accra Fast Track High Court in respect of the fourteen persons accused of murdering Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II.

At a press conference organised by MPs from the Dagbon area on the judgement, Alhaji Abukari said, "government will appeal against the ruling. We are not satisfy with the ruling."

He said: 93We are blaming the judgement, everybody in Ghana knows the Ya-Na was murdered," and added that, 93even to say that the body might not be that of the Ya-Na, the judge over stepped his bounds."

He noted that 93every rightful thinking human being will seek justice when his father was murdered, in the same way we (Dagbons) are seeking justice for our murdered king." "Nothing short of justice will be accepted to the people of Dagbon a= nd we their elected representatives", he said. Alhaji Abukari said whatever it would take government to unravel this mystery and punish the perpetrators should engage the attention of government as a matter of priority and with the utmost urgency. He said the people of Dagbon must be guided by history in respect of the very subject. "The people of Dagbon would throw their hands in despair" he said adding that 93it may be recalled that in 1986 a similar jaundiced judgemen= t was later reversed in favour of the just by the Supreme Court. Alhaji Abukari however told the youth and the people of Dagbon to exercise restraint and be circumspect at this"jolt in a long road towards the search for justice. He said anyone who broke the law would be dealt punished. The acquittal and discharge of fourteen persons in the Ya-Na murder trial resulted in spontaneous reactions erupting in violence in Dagbon communities across the country and also resulted in the burning of National Democratic Congress (NDC) party offices in Tamale and Agbogbloshie in Accra= .. According to the Alhaji Abukari, 93The reaction was formed largely by the fact that the Andanis felt justifiably betrayed that the end of justice had not been served."