We reject 'alien' Supreme Court ruling – Nakpa Naa family

Family and supporters of the late Nakpa Naa Salifu Dawuni have rejected the Supreme Court ruling that declared rival faction Dasana family as the legitimate occupants of the Bimbila skin.

They have vowed to never “respect”, “recognize”, “pay homage” to the current regent of the Nanung Traditional Area, accusing the Supreme Court judges of “intending to set ablaze the Nanumba Kingdom.”

“We, from the family of the Naa Salifu Dawuni, indeed, we from all angles shall not accept the Supreme Court verdict”, Spokesperson for the family, Chief Bolahi Abu Hassan disclosed the position of the family to Executive Members of the Peace Council in the Northern Region Saturday.

A five-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Julius Ansah on Wednesday, May 23, unanimously threw out a petition by the Nakpa Naa Salifu Dawuni challenging the legitimacy of the occupant of the Bimbila skin, Naa Andani Dasana Abdulai (defendant)

Nakpaa Naa Salifu Dawuni, a matrilineal great-grandson to the Bimbila Skin lineage first challenged the legitimacy of the Defendant, a Patrilineal grandson to the Bimbila skin, before the NaYiri, overload of Mamprugu, and lost the case.

Subsequently, he appealed the ruling of the Nayiri at the Regional and National House of Chiefs and lost in both forums. Not satisfied with the ruling of the two house of Chiefs, the Petitioner proceeded to the Supreme Court to seek redress.

The presiding judge and his four colleagues, Justice Anin Yeboah, Justice Baffoe Bonnie, Justice Yaw Apaw and Justice Gabriel Pwamang in the judgement read by Justice Gabriel Pwamang affirmed the decision of the two house of Chiefs that Naa Andani Dasana Abdulai was properly selected and enskined by the appropriate authority as the Regent of Bimbila.

The Court also held that Nakpa Naa Salifu Dawuni, who is a matrilineal great-grandson to the Bimbila Skin cannot be a legitimate heir to the Bimbila skin by lineage since the appropriate lineage requirement is the patrilineal lineage of sons and grandsons.

However, the family of petitioners have denounced the verdict of the Apex court as ‘disgraceful’ and surmised the court “intends to set fire to the Nanumba Kingdom” by rubber-stamping earlier verdicts of both Regional and National House of Chiefs, for which reason they brought the case before them.

“The Supreme Court judges who sat over our case do not really judge the case but they threw it away. For they went to quote exactly what the Northern House of Chiefs adjudication Committee said about the Bimbila Nam, which we were not satisfied and passed it on to the National House, which also threw it away, we didn’t also stop there and passed on to Supreme Court, feeling that, that higher level of adjudication court of Ghana shall do justice to the case, unfortunately, they disgraced us,” the Nakpa Naa family spokesperson.

Chief Abu Hassan continued; “I think the Supreme Court intend to set fire ablaze to Nanumba Kingdom, because it is prudent for the Supreme Court to have noticed that if a chieftaincy case passed from arbitrary committees to National House of Chiefs to Supreme Court it is a critical matter, particularly the Head kingship of Nanung (Bimbila Naa) and therefore they ought to have sat and looked into the case properly. Unfortunately, they (Supreme Court Judges) decided to feel that Nanumba Kingdom is not any important kingdom, forgetting there are human beings and properties on the land.”



The family also stated that the declaration made by the Judges that Nakpa Naa Salifu Dawuni, who is a matrilineal great-grandson to the Bimbila Skin cannot be a legitimate heir to the Bimbila skin by lineage is alien and runs counter to the history and customs of the Nanumba chiefdom and therefore they would not accept the verdict.

“It is a fallacy, alien and the Supreme Court has aired there in law because there is nowhere that a grandson or a great-grandson reach the throne and he has been denied for being a grandson or great-grandson. If the Supreme Court or any other adjudication committee that run through the case has a document they should prove it for the whole world to see” said the family.

The family said they would continue to resort to other legitimate alternatives to protest the verdict of the Supreme Court but has called for an open dialogue to try if they could reach a compromise in order to ensure justice and preserve the customs and traditions of Nanung.

“So for this verdict, we will not take the verdict. There are so many ways that one can fight for his right but we the Naa Salifu faction we pledge not to continue fighting for our right by arms and ammunition. We won’t recognize and respect him as the landlord of the place, except we are all called together to iron things out as a family.”

The Nanumba Traditional Council has two main Gates; Bang-yili and Gbugma-yili whose representatives rotate their occupancy of the throne.

The protracted chieftaincy dispute in the area became more pronounced in 2003, after the demise of the former Paramount Chief for Nanung, Na Abarika, who belonged to the Bang-yili gate.

A conflict ensued as to who was qualified from the Gbugma-yili gate to succeed him. While the late Naa Salifu Dawuni indicated that he was the rightful successor, Naa Andani also claimed he was the one chosen to occupy the throne. This compelled the Judicial Committee of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs to investigate the matter.

There was also confusion over where the late Nakpaa Naa body would be buried; while the deceased’s family insisted that his body is interred at the royal mausoleum as a paramount chief, Naa Dasana opposed the request, stressing that he never occupied the skin.

In October last year, the NPP government supervised the burial of the late Nakpa Naa at his family’s private home in Bimbila and his elder son succeeded him in pursuing the legal action.