..in Wa chieftaincy clash

One person was killed and two others sustained serious gunshot wounds when factions in the Wa chieftaincy dispute clashed on Wednesday evening. A stray bullet killed Majida Abubakari, a second year female pupil of the Falahia Islamic Junior Secondary School in Wa, while she was preparing bread flour in her house. Those injured are on admission at the Wa Regional Hospital. They are ex-Police Sergeant Darimani Wala and Daudi Wanabile, a tradesman. Tension had been building in the Wa Township since the Supreme Court on May 28 heard a motion filed by the Yijihi, Maheri and Jonywohi Gates against the National House of Chiefs' ruling in the Wa chieftaincy dispute.

The ruling favoured Alhaji Yakubu Seidu of the Nakpaha Gate. After the Supreme Court ruling both sides in the dispute claimed victory with the Nakpaha Gate going ahead to celebrate the annual "Damba" festival which had been put on hold due to the absence of a substantive Wa-Na. Eyewitnesses said Alhaji Seidu and his supporters were celebrating the festival on Wednesday evening when some members of the other three gates allegedly fired shots at them.

An elder of the Nakpaha Gate told the Ghana News Agency on condition of anonymity, that they received information from Accra that the Supreme Court had dismissed the three gates' application for appeal so they sought permission from the Regional Security Council to celebrate the festival.

The three gates, however, maintained that the court had granted their application for appeal and it would be contemptuous of the court and a breach of the peace in the area if Alhaji Seidu performed functions as Wa-Na while the appeal was pending.