Late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai IV
The youth of Dagbon in the Northern Region have hinted of a demonstration dubbed ‘Di Wumti’ (‘we are tired) to register their disappointment and frustration at the long-standing chieftaincy dispute in the area.
A letter from the concerned youth sighted by DAILY GUIDE indicates that the purpose of the demonstration is to show their displeasure to the government, chiefs and the local authorities regarding the unresolved chieftaincy conflict, which have denied Dagbon of its development. It has also stalled the enskinment of a new Ya-Naa since the death of Yakubu Andani II.
The demonstration is expected to be staged on Monday, November 20, 2017 at Yendi.
The youth are expected to converge at the Yendi Community Centre from where they would march through Yendi town towards Tamale, amidst drumming and singing of songs, after which a press conference would be held to put their case across.
Last week, the children of the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II indicated that they would resist any attempt by the government to bury their father without naming his killers.
The family accused the government delegation, led by the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, of outlining a programme assigning in advance the skin gates of Mion and Savelugu to some particular persons and also conferring the position of Ya-Naa on its preferred candidate.
They revealed that the Kan Dapaah delegation gave the Abudu royal family permission to occupy the old Gbewaa Palace in order to perform the funeral of Mahamadu Abdulai – a provision described as a disrespect for the sensibilities of the Andani family, considering the circumstances that led Dagbon to its current crisis.
“Clearly, the provision in the agenda of the Kan Dapaah delegation, which allows the family of Mahamadu Abdulai to occupy and bury their late father, is a continuation of the process that led to the murder of Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II. We have no doubt in our minds that the NPP government is hell-bent on fulfilling their earlier promise to the Mahamudu Abdulai family, which Elizabeth Ohene alluded to on the ‘Front page’ programne of Joy FM on Friday, March 29, 2002.
“This fact is not lost on us the sons and daughters of the late Ya-Naa,” they asserted.
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).
The Abudu family vowed not to continue the peace process until the committee allows it 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.
FROM Eric Kombat and Benjamin Nyarko, Yendi