News

Abudus withdraw from Dagbon peace process
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, Jan 15, Ghanadot - The Abudu royal family of Dagbon has withdrawn from the peace process for the area.

The family says it would not participate in peace talks until the Committee of Eminent Chiefs (CEC) allows it to use the Gbewa Palace for the performance of the funeral rites of the late Ya Na, Mahamadu Abdullai - an Abudu overload - who died in the 1989.

The CEC, chaired by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, is mediating in the Dagbon crisis to bring closure to the chieftaincy dispute between the two gates.

In a 14-page petition to the committee, the Abudus complained about the failure and lack of courage on the part of the committee to implement provisions in the final peace agreement unconditionally though both parties have consented to it.

The petition says if the committee felt it lacked the courage to follow the road map, it should simply refer the matter back to the Supreme Court.

Spokesperson for the Abudu royal family, Dr. Ziblim Iddi hinted that his side is tired of compromising any longer.

“Now what we are simply saying is that at least for once, the committee should…impress on the Andanis to see the need why the Abudus should perform the funeral in the Gbewa palace because this is in consonance with the Supreme Court ruling,” Dr Ziblim said.

“The Andanis may not see that clearly but it is for the committee to impress on them. When we say compromise, we are not saying they should do something out of the ordinary.”

The Abudus and the Andanis have been involved in a protracted chieftaincy violence which culminated in the death of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani on 27 March 2002.

Dr Ziblim said the Abudus cannot compromise on their resolve to bury their chief at the palace because failure to do so would make the chief’s descendants unqualified to take the throne.

“If you give up on this position, then you complicate matters down the route. If you compromise on performing the funeral as that of a former Ya Na, what you are simply saying is that, down the route, nobody from the Abudu gate would be qualified,” he said.

The Andani gate, however, insists they will never yield to such demands. Spokesperson for the family Kpananaa N.B. Bawa said performing the funeral rites of the late Ya Na who was deskinned is against Dagbon customs.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Committee of the Eminent Chiefs, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, is reported to be out of the country and would attend to the issues later.

Ghanadot