Bonaboto urges peace in Bolga chieftaincy dispute

Bonaboto, a civil society organisation made up of natives of Bolgatanga, Nabdam, Bongo and Tongo in the Upper East Region, has re-engaged the two families in the Bolgatanga chieftaincy conflict in a bid to find a lasting solution to the issue.

A 14-member delegation, led by the Chairman of BONABOTO Council of Elders, Mr Robert Ajane; the National President, Dr Andrew Akulaa; the Member of Parliament for the Bolgatanga Central Constituency, Mr Isaac Aduko Adongo; the Catholic Cathedral Administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Bolgatanga, Very Rev. Fr Samuel Atinga; and the NPP parliamentary candidate for Bolgatanga Central, Mr Rax Asanga, among others, engaged the two families on New Year’s Day to appeal to them to give peace a chance and allow the court processes to travel to a logical conclusion.

Acts of violence

A statement signed and issued by the Secretary to Peace Mediation Committee of the BONABOTO, Mr S.A Abopaam, said the group met with both families at separate meetings to dialogue with them with the view to finding a lasting solution.

Speaking to both families at separate meetings at their various palaces, Mr Ajene, Dr Akulaa, Mr Adongo and Very Rev. Fr Atinga were unanimous in their appeal to both families to encourage their youth to desist from acts of violence which were costing lives and property and giving the area a bad name.

The statement said the speakers emphasised that the essence of chieftaincy was to preserve tradition, culture and facilitate development, adding that same could not be achieved in an environment riddled with violence and uncertainty.

Intermediation process

It said they entreated the families to be more responsible in ensuring that peace prevailed and was sustained before, during and after the court processes.

The statement said BONABOTO assured both families of its preparedness to reactivate the intermediation process to resolve the issue.
BONABOTO, accordingly, constituted a three-member working contact group to ensure information flow and constant engagement with the two families.

The group upon the success of the latest round of mediation communicated its intention to restart the process in the medium to long term to secure lasting peace and incident-free successions.

The protagonists

The statement said in response, both Naba Abeka Nongbuure-Maltinga and Naba Awugya-Lebna Raymond Alafia Abilba IV, the protagonists, expressed their appreciation to BONABOTO for diligently seeking peace and the general welfare of the area through their interventions, particularly, during the early days of the issue and still pursuing same.

They were convinced that BONABOTO was the best and most objective arbiter to initiate and achieve a non-judicial solution to the conflict which in their opinion was very important.

Request

They expressed the hope that the group would create the right environment for both families to engage and continue from where they left in 2015 for a peaceful resolution of the issue.

They assured the group that they would do their best to restrain their youth even in the face of provocation and appealed for the security services, especially, the police to act more professionally.

They further appealed to the group to help ensure that persons caught engaging in criminal activities in the name of the chieftaincy issue were prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.

Background

It will be recalled that during 2015, BONABOTO engaged the two families in a bid to find an amicable solution to the issue prior to both chiefs being enskinned which subsequently led to the legal battles that followed.

Even though both families at the time agreed with BONABOTO on the need to clearly map an acceptable selection and succession framework and made proposals to that effect, their proposals for the king-making caucus had some few discrepancies that BONABOTO needed to iron out.

These were still being worked on when the issue de-escalated.