Accra, Jan. 21, GNA- Parliament on Wednesday in a resolution backed by 139 votes with no abstentions extended the State of Emergency in the Tamale Municipality and the Yendi District for a period of one month beginning from January 23, this year.
Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, the Interior Minister, moved for the adoption of the resolution in pursuance of article 31(6) of the 1992 Constitution.
The Minister said there were still some outstanding issues to be tackled including the completion of the building of a temporal palace for the Ya-Na adding, 17 rooms have been built and seven yet to be completed.
"If nothing happens it is expected that the palace would be completed by the middle of February ushering in a road map for the resolution of the Dagbon crisis culminating in the burial of the late Ya-Na," Mr Owusu-Agyemang said.
He said after the internment of the late chief, the next outstanding issue would be the enskinment of a regent for the area. Mr Owusu-Agyemang told Parliament that the Otumfuo Committee, made up of eminent chiefs established to oversee the peace process in the Dagbon area, was seriously working to ensure the enskinment. The Interior Minister said the group of eminent chiefs helping to resolve the Dagbon crisis were constantly in touch with the two gates involved in the crisis, adding that despite the initial problems encountered, both sides have resolved to contribute to the peace process.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang said: "The government and people of Ghana are all mindful of the need to resolve the crisis...the process is time consuming but there is no short circuiting of the traditional processes."
Mr. Owusu-Agyeman said reports from security forces in the four districts where the State of Emergency have been lifted were satisfactory, but the situation there was still being monitored. Seconding the resolution, Mr Joseph Darko-Mensah, NPP- Okaikwei-North, said information available indicated that there was a spirit of co-operation by both parties caught up in the crisis. Mr Edward Doe-Adjaho, NDC-Avenor, said, "as a sign of goodwill and friendship, coupled with the fact that we are in a new year, the minority would support the extension of the State of Emergency."
He, however, said there was nothing new in the presentation the Interior Minister made to Parliament to warrant an extension, adding that people in the area were being denied their fundamental human rights.
He said the criminal aspect of the crisis had not been resolved and that those who recently demolished the foundation of the new palace were still walking freely.
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Defence Minister, said it was important to resolve the Dagbon crisis quickly since it was an election year, adding that there was the need to empower the people to exercise their franchise.
Mr. Kofi Attor, NDC-HO Central, deplored the manner in which the Interior Minister kept asking for extension of the State of Emergency in the area.
Mr Attor said since there was nothing new in his request for an extension of the State of Emergency, the Minister should in future just record his request for members to replay it.
Alhaji Mumuni. A Seidu, NDC-Wa Central, said the government seemed to be using the state of emergency as an end in itself, adding that when it was declared, the period was supposed to be a means to finding lasting solution to the problem.
He said, "in our case the extension of the state of emergency in Tamale and Yendi seem to have become a ritual, but the purpose of it is still not being achieved.
Alhaji Seidu said it was high time the government found a lasting solution to the problem in the area and bring a stop to the extension of the state of emergency.
Mr Cletus Avoka, NDC-Bawku West, said the government seemed to have lost interest in the Dagbon issue in that it had "conspicuously refused to bring the culprits of the conflict to book."
He said unless government brought the culprits as recommended by the Wuaku Commission, aggrieved persons were bound to take up arms again in the future.
Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, NDC- Wenchi West, said there was no sign of people wanting to cause violence in the area, if the state of emergency was lifted.
He said as the elections drew closer, the state of emergency must be lifted so that the people in the area could participate in the election.
Mr Asiedu-Nketiah also said there was no justification in relegating elected members of the district assemblies in the area to the background for the past one month since they were voted into office. "It is time for the Interim Management Committee (IMC) in the area to be replaced by the people's elected officers in the district assemblies," he said.
Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, the Senior Minister, assured Members of Parliament that government was making efforts to restore the district assemblies in the area.
He said the authorities would ensure that the people were not disenfranchised unduly during this year's election. "We hope to restore order in the area to allow the people there to participate in the forthcoming voters' registration process in the run up to the 2004 elections," Mr Mensah said.
Earlier, Mr. Owusu-Agyemang deplored the wrong information being carried by a section of the media that the Benin delegation including the deputy Speaker of its National Assembly, Mr. Sacca Kina Jerome had to go through a rough time at the Ghana side of the border on their way from Togo to attend the ceremonial opening of Parliament on Tuesday. In a statement read in the house before the commencement of public business, the Interior Minister said the complaints by the media and others did not "capture the facts of the situation."
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang said the Benin delegation arrived on January 19 late in the night when the Ghanaian officials working at the border had closed and, therefore, could not process their papers.
He said a result of the development, the delegation had to come very early the next morning when the deputy Speaker and his entourage were cleared and crossed into Ghana.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang, however, said a fourth car in the convoy did not have an official registration number and therefore had to be delayed for some time to enable them to process documents for the vehicle.
He said the vehicle in question had only a group of technical staff and journalists accompanying the Benin deputy Speakers who were able to make it to the ceremonial opening of Parliament.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang said apologises had been rendered by the Ghanaian and Benin sides and the matter had been amicably resolved. 21 Jan 04
