President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has made a passionate appeal to the Abudu and Andani families of Dagbon to embrace the progress report of the Committee of Eminent Chiefs chaired by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that has set out a road map for the restoration of peace in the Dagbon traditional area.
Addressing the Eminent Chiefs and members of the Abudu and Andani gates at a ceremony at the Banquet Hall of the Jubilee House to receive the report of the Committee, President Akufo-Addo urged both parties in Dagbon as an expression of love for their people to rise above the passions that has fuelled the crisis in Dagbon and support the implementation of the new road map.
“The overwhelming majority of the people of Dagbon especially the youth are tired of this age old conflict and just want the opportunity to enhance their lives in normalcy and security,” the President said.
The Asantehene
In his address at the ceremony, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and his two colleague eminent chiefs said after nearly sixteen years found a road map to resolving the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute, which has seen the two feuding royal gates, Abudu and Andani, travelling to the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi for mediation for over a decade now.
Representatives of the two feuding parties according to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, have gladly accepted the peace deal brokered by him and his fellow eminent chiefs.
The Asantehene indicated that per the new arrangement, both parties have reached a compromise regarding the separate holding of the funeral rites of two late Dagbon Kings from both the Abudu and Andani Gates.
The peace deal according to the Asantehene will see the Abudus given access to the Gbewa Palace to perform the final funeral rites of the late Ya Na Mahamadu Abdulai, according to their customs and traditions.
The funeral rites, which are expected to last for two weeks, would commence on December 14 and end on December 28, 2018, after which the Abudus would leave the Gbewa Palace peacefully.
The Andanis would also take their turn at the Gbewa Palace to organize the funeral rites of the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani from 4-18 January 2019. The Andanis would also leave the Gbewa Palace peacefully after holding the final funeral rites of Ya Na Yakubu Andani according to their rich customs and traditions.
The holding of the two funeral rites would pave way for processes to begin towards the enskinment of a new Ya Na for the Dagbon Traditional Area.
President Akufo Addo in his address indicated that “government will provide the requisite financial, material, moral, physical and security forces necessary for the sustainability of the peace process that has been embarked on today”.
“Even though government has already spent a huge amount of money and resources to maintain peace in Yendi this last sixteen years, government will not relent in its determination to help foster again peace and unity in Dagbon,” the President said.
