Northern Regional CPP Chairman lauds Kufuor's visit

Albert Atutiga, Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP), on Monday lauded President John Kufuor for his visit to Tamale in a bid to find a lasting solution to the Dagbon crisis.

"At long last the long-awaited visit of the President to Dagbon has come and it is our hope that the two Gates will listen to him and give peace a chance in the area," he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.

Atutiga said some Ghanaians were worried about the President not visiting Dagbon "as if his visit holds the key to the crisis. "Now that he has come all peace-loving people in the country should bring their heads together to find a permanent peace in Dagbon."

Atutiga said the President should not stop there but should try as much as possible to bring the two Gates together to dialogue. Atutuga called on the two Gates to use the President's visit to smoke the peace pipe for the State of Emergency to be lifted so that business could go on smoothly.

He expressed the hope that the President's visit would erase the perception of those who felt the NPP government had interest in the conflict.

Atutiga appealed to other political leaders not to use the Dagbon crisis to score political points but to collaborate with the government to solve the conflict and bring peace to the area. He also appealed to the government to review the curfew situation to enhance social and economic activities in the area during the farming season.

President Kufuor last Friday led a government delegation to Nalerigu to attend the funeral of the Nayiri, Naa Gamni Mahamadu Abdulai I, the Paramount Chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, who died on 9 June.

The President, after the funeral, visited Tamale and held separate closed-door meetings with representatives of the Andani and Abudu Gates, the two factions involved in the Dagbon crisis. The visit was the first by the President since the Dagbon crisis in March 2002, which led to the assassination of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, the Paramount Chief of Dagbon, and 29 other people in Yendi.