Youth group calls on Abudu, Andani families to compromise
A youth group calling itself the Dagbon Malima Zungo (DAMAZ) has appealed to leaders of both the Abudu and the Andani Royal families to, as a matter of urgency, adopt compromises and sacrifices for the sake of lasting peace and unity in Dagbon.
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The group said the leaders of both royal families, the Committee of Eminent Chiefs mediating the Dagbon conflict, led by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the government machinery should consider the interest of the future generation and stay above parochial interests and handle the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis to achieve the desired result.
In a statement issued in Tamale on Wednesday after a press conference and signed by the Chairman of the group, Alhaji Jagbo Baako, the group said for the past 15 years, Dagbon had been at a standstill over a crisis that dated back to the 18th century, and stressed the importance of peace and unity in Dagbon, in particular, and the Northern Region in general.
Appeal
It said, “Vested interest and selfish desires of some people in Dagbon have held the entire kingdom to ransom,” and appealed to the feuding parties to let sleeping dogs lie and allow peace to reign for Dagbon to gain its past glory.
“While thanking both factions for their commitment to the peace process for over a decade now, we would like them to reflect on the membership of the various families who initiated the process in the committee, some of whom are dead, and consider the current membership as a true working group to seek lasting peace.
“The leadership of both families undoubtedly is not the same, as well as the committee itself has a replacement to its membership because of death, which should remind us that death is inevitable.”
“Observing the committee’s sitting with both families on October 29, 2017 at the Manhyia Palace, some of us retired to our hotel rooms in total silence and lost appetite for food because of the entrenched position from both parties,” the statement said.
It said events that took place there were “pitiful, shameful and fearful and make the future of Dagbon very bleak, if it is left in the hands of these feuding factions to decide on what to do and what not to do”.
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Salvage kingdom
“That is why we call on the Committee of Eminent Chiefs and the government to help salvage the Dagbon Kingdom for the future generation. The future of Dagbon is at stake, and we would like all and sundry, particularly the youth in Dagbon, to respect the final outcome of the committee’s work.
“We understand that Dagbon is not in normal times and, therefore, needs some degree of flexibility in the customs and traditions,” the statement explained.
The youth, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders, particularly the leaders of both parties, to respect and obey the final agreement that would be arrived at.
“The Dagbon Kingdom has suffered for far too long under this crisis, and we believe enough is enough. Dagbon must be restored today for a better tomorrow. We will further resist any attempt by individuals who may try to foment trouble in the name of the youth.
“Our fathers and chiefs must place the interest of our future above their personal interests and we believe that the performances of the funerals of the two Ya-Nas will calm the nerves of all Dagombas, which will pave the way for the installation of a new Ya-Na to unite the kingdom,” the statement added.
In September this year, the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, launched a programme to generate renewed interest in resolving the protracted Dagbon chieftaincy crisis.
The programme, dubbed: “The Dagbon Peace and Progress Now”, brought together all stakeholders, including youth groups, to pave the way for absolute peace in Dagbon for development.