Late Ya Naa, Mahamadu Abdulai IV
Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicates that the Abudu royal family withdrew from the Dagbon peace process initiated by the Committee of Eminent Chiefs (CEC) on Sunday, October 29, 2017.
The CEC, chaired by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, with support from the overlord of Mamprugu land, the Nayiri, Naa Bohigu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga and Yagbonwura Tuntumba Boresa I, is mediating in the Dagbon crisis to bring closure to the chieftaincy dispute between the two gates (Abudus and Andanis).
A source revealed that the Abudu gate had vowed not to continue the peace process until the committee allows them to use the Gbewa Palace for the performance of the funeral rites of the late Ya Naa, Mahamadu Abdullai IV – an Abudu overload – who died in 1989.
The Abudu and the Andani royal families resumed sittings at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Saturday, October 28, 2017, for the implementation of the final phase of the road-map to peace at Dagbon.
But the meeting was inconclusive due to some disagreements about the performance of the funeral of the late Ya Naa in the old Gbewaa Palace at Yendi by the Abudu family, as the Andanis opposed the proposal.
The Abudus felt they had been unfairly treated by the committee, having seen to the implementation of the first phase of the roadmap to peace some years ago.
The Andani royals have resisted any attempt to perform the funeral in the old Gbewaa Palace.
They believe that the late Mahamadu Abdulai IV died as a private person hence, their opposition to calls for his funeral to be performed like a Ya Na.
During President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo’s visit to the regent of Dagbon at Yendi, he indicated that the greatest gift for the good people of Ghana would be the enskinment of a new Ya Naa in Dagbon to bring an end to the long-standing conflict in the kingdom of Dagbon – but the process has hit a snag at the moment.
“I pledge to support and give the full backing of my government to any formula, means, strategy and approach to be adopted to find a lasting solution to the conflict situation in Dagbon,” he underscored.
He called on the traditional rulers and the committee of eminent chiefs to spearhead the process to enskin an overlord for Dagbon before this year’s Damba Festival in December, adding that it would be the greatest first-year achievement of his government.
DAILY GUIDE has also gathered that the Tolon Naa was expected to officially inform President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the Abudu family’s decision to withdraw from the peace process.
It will be recalled that the Abudus’ representatives at the Manhyia Palace on Friday, January 28, 2016, petitioned the Asantehene-led committee and reaffirmed their boycott of proceedings there.
They (Abudus) refused to honour subsequent invitations by the committee for fresh talks on the implementation of the final phase of the road-map to peace.
According to them, the committee had abandoned its own road-map to the peace document, and now operates under the sole direction of a “so-called Kuga-Naa, who is, with the support of the Andani family, usurping the powers of the Gushei Naa.”
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale