Ya-Na to be buried next month

A impeachable source with corroboration from the Northern Regional Minister, Ernest Debrah has disclosed that barring any unforeseen hitch, the mortal remains of the Overlord of the Dagbon Traditional Area, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II will to be buried next month. The Independent, a private newspaper, which broke the story, noted that although it could not establish the actual date of the burial, Mr. Debrah disclosed that since the two feuding factions, the Andanis and the Abudus have agreed that the late King, should be buried next month, and that “what is left is the tentative date for the burial.”

Signals picked from the interactions with the Northern Regional Minister however, suggest that the burial of the late King might be in the last week of October.

This is because the construction of the temporary Palace, which is expected to be he interment place of the late Ya-Na, is expected to take one month.

After sleuth investigations, the paper says it realized that the building of the temporary Palace is only one facet of elaborate arrangements, being made by the government, in preparation for the burial of the late King.

This first step had been made possible because the two feuding factions have assented to the government’s programme.

The regional minister confirmed that the sod cutting for the construction of the temporary Palace, would be done by the Committee of Eminent Chiefs appointed by the government in the aftermath of the carnage in Dagbon.

Also expected to be in attendance at the sod cutting ceremony, are the Senior Minister, Joseph Henry Mensah (MP) and the deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Captain (Rtd) Nkrabeah Effah Dartey (MP), who is currently on a four-day tour of the region, and representatives of the Abudu and Andani Gates.

In a statement signed by the chairman of the three-member Committee of Eminent Chiefs, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the committee said it has given its unflinching support for the construction of the temporary Palace.

Other members of the Committee of Eminent Chiefs are Wura, Bawa Doshie, Naa Professor John Nabila, and the Wulugu-Naaba.

“Our checks at the Tamale Township and its environs reveal that the construction of the Palace, had been delayed for four months, because of disagreement over where the temporary Palace, should be sited.

The sod cutting ceremony has been necessitated by a mutual agreement, between the Andani and the Abudu Gates, that the temporary Palace should be sited close to the Gbewaa Palace, the beauty of which was dented by the carnage that preceded the killing of the Ya-Na, on March 12, 2002.

The two groups, according to the Regional Minister also resolved that the new structure should not overshadow the original Gbewaa Palace, the rehabilitation of which is expected to start soon.

The paper said it has discovered that plans are far advanced, for the rehabilitation of the damaged Gbewaa Palace. The northern regional minister, told Captain Dartey that materials for the Gbewaa project, have been secured and added that he wished the curfew could but lifted at Yendi, which in his (regional minister’s) estimation, is very peaceful.