Press Statement By Regent of Dagbon

Press Statement Issued by Kampakuya Naa Yakubu Abdulai The Regent of Dagbon State.

It has come to my notice that various documents are in circulation in Dagbon some of which are capable of inciting people to violence.I have always hoped that Dagbon has seen the last of violence for any purpose .To this end I have patiently waited for the day the world would wake up for the realization that the few who have sought to derail the forward march of Dagbon among the other traditional states in the country. Ghana since March 2002 have been dealt with according to law and that the identity of Dagbon and its forward march guaranteed.

Unfortunately, information reaching me has it that there is some outward expression of disaffection among the people of Dagbon arising from the contents of a document which claims to be from the three Eminent Kings comprising the OTUMFUO OSEI TUTU II, THE YAGBONWURA DOSHIE BAWA, AND THE NAYIRI MAHAMI ABDULAI NAA BOHAGU and seeks to change the custom and identity of Dagbon and its kingship.

I have laid hands on a copy of this document and the copy that I have seen is an unsigned one and therefore has no known author and if its purpose was to incite violence in Dagbon it has failed for now.

Upon seeing the document headed “FINAL PEACE AGREEMENT “ and purported to be a “STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE COMMITTEE OF EMINENT KINGS OF HIS MAJESTY OTUMFUO OSEI TUTU (II), THE YAGBONWURA DOSHIE BAWA AND THE NAYIRIMAHAMI ABDULAI NAA BOHAGU CONTAINING THE FINAL PEACE AGREEMENT ON THE DAGBON CHIEFTAINCY CONFLICT” it is not surprising that it has had the effect that is having on the right thinking citizenz of Dagbon.

However, being a royal who is also the person acting as king on the death of Ya Naa pending his final funeral and customary selection and enskinment of a successor, I do know that the document contains material which no person of royalty will fathom let alone suggest for consideration . I will refer to only two of such contents of the document for which it can not be attributed to such respected and Eminent Kings.

For one thing I know that the Eminent Kings will not allow the situation in which a unitary Dagbon Kingdom would have two palaces (“old” and “new”) occupied by two regents (“regent of Dagbon” and “regent of his father”) at the same time. The Eminent Kings know that no custom, especially not a custom of Dagbon , allows the occupation of two palaces by two different regents or kings of one kingdom at the same time under any conditions and no external body directs the rightful king of Dagbon on how to govern his kingdom as long as it is within Dagbon custom and National law.

For another the Eminent Kings would not advocate the selection and enskinment of a Ya Naa by persons who do not qualify by custom to do so and thereby create another cycle of litigation and eventual violence.

I am fortified in my believe in the nonauthencity of the said document because of its derogation from the known mandate of the Eminent Kings who have come to be known as the Otumfuo Committee.

The mandate was: i) To establish how best all the necessary customary rites can be performed before an appropriate date for the burial of Ya Naa Yakubu Andani II is fixed by the Traditional authorities in Dagbon. ii) To mediate for a reconciliation between the Abdulai and Andani royal families iii) To advice the government of Ghana on the customary procedure to be pursued to achieve a lasting peace within Dagbon state, in particular and Ghana as awhole.

I am hereby pleading with all citizens of Dagbon to take time and study any document which may come to their possession before allowing themselves to be excited or incited by its contents.

DATED AT THE GBEWAA PALACE , YENDI THIS 3RD DAY OF DECEMBER 2997

Signed

Abdulai Yakubu (Kampakuya Naa)

ALL PRESS HOUSES

THEIR MAJESTIES i) OTUMFUO OSEI TUTU II ii) YAGBONWURA DOSHIE BAWA iii) NAYIRI MAHAMI ABDULAI NAA BOHAGUB