General News of Thursday, 30 October 1997

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Dagbon Chief Assures Of Safe Passage In Tamale

Yendi (Northern Region), 29 Oct. Ya-Na Yakubu Andani the second, paramount chief of the Dagbon traditional area, has assured all people, irrespective of their ethnic background, that they are free to live in any part of Dagbon. He said as citizens, every Ghanaian has the right to live and work in any part of the country guided only by the laws of the land. The Ya-Na gave the assurance yesterday during the commissioning of a new 30,000 pounds sterling Dagbon traditional council hall at Yendi built with British Government assistance through Action Aid, a British NGO. The people of Dagomba traditional area provided communal labour as their contribution. The Ya-Na's assurance is seen as a response to the call for the re-integration of Konkombas, particularly those who fled Tamale during the 1994 ethnic war. The Konkombas have since not felt safe to return to Tamale although some had gone back to their homes in the other conflict areas. The Ya-Na appealed to the chiefs and people of Dagbon to forget the past ''because the past shall never come again and shall belong to history''. He assured investors and other development partners that peace has been restored and they should therefore feel free to invest in the area which abounds in rich resources and cheap labour. He appealed to the government to expedite the approval of 20 chiefs from Dagbon state recommended for elevation to paramountcy status.