Introduction:

Our attention has been drawn to the falsehood peddled by one Lawyer Yakubu Mahama Dubik circulating in the media, alleging that the Tanmoung clan has no land nor chieftaincy in Bimbagu. This appears to have been a retort to a press conference organized by the youth of Bimbagu on the 8th of August 2024 at Bimbagu with the heading:

"Tension Mounts In Bimbagu And Its Environs Due To The Intended Elevation Of Naniik Daana (A Sub-Divisional Chief) To Paramountcy Status".

The news conference by the youth of Bimbagu was without malice but intended to draw the attention of traditional authorities and duty bearers to the fact that traditional protocols were skipped and due process ignored in deciding to upgrade a sub-divisional chief who is settled on our land to a paramountcy status.

The news conference was also intended to provide an early warning signal to the duty bearers of the consequences of carrying out the intended upgrade of the Naniik Daana.

However, with mischief in mind and in a warmongering tone and posture, one lawyer Yakubu Dubik Mahama decided to respond not just to the issues of chieftaincy upgrade and land tenure as it pertained to Bimbagu and other Tanmoung clan communities, but rather tried to rope in third parties with the aim of creating alliances who he thinks may become sympathetic to their wrong cause in case of conflict.

To achieve his diabolically motivated agenda, lawyer Dubik peddled falsehoods by providing a completely inaccurate historical perspective both on issues of the land and chieftaincy (See Lawyer Dubik's article on GHANAWEB: Wednesday, 21 August 2024).

In this rejoinder, Lawyer Dubik's distortions will be highlighted, land tenure and ownership will be explained, and the historical perspective of chieftaincy of the Tanmoung clan clarified as known by the entire Tanmoung clan in present-day Ghana and the Republic of Togo.

History of the Tanmoung Clan in Ghana and Togo:

During the scramble for Africa, the Germans occupied the area called the German Protectorate. During the Second World War, the French courted the support of the British to fight the Germans. Following the successful alliance of the British and the French, the Germans were defeated in that war. The German Protectorate, the Trans Volta Togoland, was shared between the British and the French.

The portion of the land that the British were awarded became a British Protectorate. The line of demarcation was cut across clans and families, dividing some families as well as households and clans.

The division thus assigned such families and households into two administrative countries (Gold Coast and Togoland). The Tanmoung clan was no exception, as they were most affected by the new line of demarcation.

Thus, the Tanmoung settlements like Bimbagu, Balinfeouk, Tambona, Bimbating, Janander, Toonmoni, Najikong, Gbingbalanchet, Dukluatuk, Sayegu, Jimbale, Mangor, Bunbuna, Kingangu, Tatala, Tambiing, Kinkanjaguok, and many others became part of the Gold Coast. Meanwhile, other communities like Yemburi, Kundung, Baritiug, Kujagungun, Tanmoung, et cetera, fell under the French Protectorate.

In 1956, the Gold Coast conducted a plebiscite after which these communities in the British Protectorate voted overwhelmingly to join the Gold Coast, which was later to become the new independent Ghana.

The Chieftaincy Institution During Colonialism and After:

It is important to note that all this while, the institution of chieftaincy was well known and documented, and through indirect rule, the Nayiri (the Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom) was empowered by the British to appoint and/or install chiefs and or headmen to help in the British indirect rule.

The Nayiri of Mamprugu Kingdom had the power to install chiefs based on their custom and traditions. The Nayiri's power extended from the present-day Upper East Region to some parts of the British Togoland where the Bimobas lived.

The Chiefs of Builsa, Talansi, Nabdam, Frafra Kusasi et cetera were all installed by the Nayiri in those days.

With this background or historical perspective, it is fallacious for anyone to describe the Tanmoung clan and its chieftaincy historical records as either a chief in Togo or Ghana. As espoused in this write-up the chieftaincy history of the Tanmoung clan goes beyond political boundaries.

Distortions vs. Facts:

Distortion Number 1:

Our press release categorically stated that lawyer Mahama Dubik hailed from Jimbale in the Yunyoo District (see paragraph 2 page 2 of his rejoinder) and not from Yunyoo as Mr. Dubik stated in his rejoinder. Also, nowhere did the press release indicate that Mr. Dubik was a Mamprusi and came from Yunyoo. WHERE DID THESE COME FROM? Is this man serious?

Distortion Number 2:

It is historically inaccurate to state that the Naniik skin is older than the Bagir Daana's skin. For Mr. Dubik's education, he claims the first Naniik Daana, known in private life as Napot Konlan was enskinned in 1953. This claim is inaccurate as there is no evidence to support the claim. Bagir Daana Kombian Duut was enskinned in 1952 by Naa Sheriga Abdulai who reigned as King of Mamprugu from 1947 to 1966.

Due to challenges with the Konkombas as who own Bimbagu, in January 1956, the Nayiri in his wisdom separated the Bimobas and the Konkombas. This separation was acknowledged by the then Bunkpurgu Naba Yoagbat Tojak in his letter dated 6th February, 1956 to the Nayiri thanking him for that wise decision. Kombian Duut happened to be the first Bagir Daana to be enskinned by the Nayiri in the then Gold Coast after the death of the Headman, Chamba Bitian who was appointed in 1932. However, as we stated earlier, chieftaincy in colonial days defied political boundaries.

By the time Kombia Duut was enskinned, five other Tamoung Chiefs had already been enskinned by the Nayiri in the then-German Protectorate, later known as Trans Volta Togoland including present-day Ghana. Granted the assertion of Lawyer Dubik (without subjecting that statement to authentication). Does Napot Konlan being enskinned in 1953 automatically make the skin older than that of Tanmoung's skin?

Was the Bagir Daana (Kombian Duut) not in Bimbagu when he arrived? Did he meet a Bimbagu without a chief?

These questions are asked because the history of Bimbagu has been documented clearly. Thus, Bimbagu as a settlement/community enjoyed traditional leadership several decades before 1953. This can be obtained from the national archives dating as far back as 1932. Nowhere in these documents is Naniik mentioned as a village/community/ settlement.

Some chiefs and Headmen were appointed and or installed among the Tanmoung clan. Indeed, the Bagir Daana (Kombian Duut), was the 6th Bagir Daana (but the first to be enskinned by Naa Sheriga Abdulai (King of the Mamprugu Kingdom who reigned from 1947 to 1966) in 1952.

These historical facts are available in the archives. Maybe, lawyer Dubik needs to do some research to acquaint himself with the truth and stop embarrassing himself.

Distortion Number 3:

It is clear to all discerning minds and elders of the area that Lawyer Dubik is pretending not to know the truth or is simply mischievous. He has also succeeded in blindfolding and misleading some of his kinsmen. His claim that the Tanmoung clan have been responsible for all the conflicts in the Bimoba area is again another palpable lie and mischievous.

There have been so many conflicts that have occurred in the Bimoba area that had nothing to do with the Tanmoung clan. Though we are not gladdened by these unfortunate situations in the area, Lawyer Dubik should check his history well. Any conflict that involved the Tanmoung clan was never started by us. We have always responded in self-defense, especially when our sovereignty is under attack.

Distortion Number 4

The lawyer claims the Naniik lands were acquired in the 1700s. Really? That means their settlement in the area spans over 300 years. Who are the descendants of those early settlers in Bimbagu? Can you name any? Could this assertion too be out of mischief? (Note that the few names mentioned by Mr. Dubik are some of the respected individuals who lived and died within the last 4 to 5 decades. Are they not remotely related to the first settlers in Bimbagu? Lawyer Dubik might want to take note of the following facts:

The First Clan to join the Tanmoung clan in Bimbagu – the Kpana Clan.
Having settled in Bimbagu for many years, one Kansab of the Kpana clan who was a nephew to Bayal Lambon came to lodgewith him at Bimbating. He later travelled to his relatives in Togo to take part in a funeral performance of his late brother. As tradition permits, he decided to marry the widow of his late brother who had six children by then.

He came back to Bimbagu with his wife and was accepted back. They then moved him out of their compound and settled him at Bimbating where Chamba Salua Bonbom is settled now and gave him farmland. The Kpana Clan was therefore the first Bimoba clan to join the Tanmoung clan in Bimbagu.

After some years, Chamba Salua from the Nandook clan who was the son of Kansab’s sister also came and lodged Chamba Kansab. Kansab decided to move out towards the river side leaving the house for Salua. Nandook clan were the 2nd to join the Tanmoung clan in Bimbagu.

The two came at the time when the Tanmoung clan had cleared most of the virgin lands within Bimbagu and its environs into farmlands.

Third Clan to join Tanmung clan in Bimbagu – Gboung -Naateeb

After some time the Gboung-Naateeb came. A sister of Yannaar called Powuruk married to Chamba Kamoajual came and lodged with Yannaar in Yannaar’s house. They decided to remain in (Bembaug) Bimbagu. With a kind gesture, Chamba Yannar consulted with his brother Tukpar (Bayal Tikilat) for part of his land to settle his brother-in-law.

This appeal was accepted and a piece of land was released to Chamba Kamoajual where the Bimbagu Senior High/Technical School (BISTEC) is situated. There was an established road leading to Gbingbalanchet and incidentally, a fallow piece of land laid by the road where Tukpar normally passed to his bigger farm.

He then told Kamoajual to cultivate and add to his farmland. From that time until now, there has been a shrine on that parcel of land being pacified by the Tukpar family which latest event took place during the establishment of BISTECH mid this year (2024).

The uncultivated land was surrounded by already cultivated farmlands to the east by Chamba Tuatil, to the north by Chamba Sambian Laar, to the south by Chamba Tukpar and to the west by Chamba Yannal. The total land occupied by the Gboung-Naateeb (Naniik clan) at Bimbagu-Gboruk, now called Naniik is not above 200 acres. They do not have land elsewhere within the Bimbagu and its environs.

Distortion Number 5

The Bimbagu Raana (the Konkomba chief) has never enskinned any Bagir Daana since time immemorial contrary to what Lawyer Dubik would want the world to believe. The lawyer either enjoys controversy or is completely ignorant of the history of Bimbagu and rightly so, because he is from Jimbale, another Tanmoung settlement more than 20km from the area under discussion. Furthermore, he has lived his entire life outside of the Bimoba land.

A little research would have done him some good instead of spewing lies and fabrications as though there is no tomorrow, and no history to guide us. Most of his learned colleagues will not go this low.

Distortion Number 6

To the best of our knowledge, the Naniik Daana is a Sub-divisional chief and NOT a Divisional chief as Lawyer Dubik claims. A document of enskinment/elevation as a Divisional chief could settle the matter. If the right protocols were followed by the enskinning authorities, a Sub-divisional chief would have been elevated to a Divisional chief, and not to paramountcy. More so the Naniik Daana does not have a single sub-chief enskinned by him so he does not meet the criteria for elevation to a paramountcy status.

Distortion Number 7

For a Lawyer, who claims to be a nephew of the Tanmoung clan, to say that the Bagri Daana is not a chieftaincy title is unfortunate and the little said about it the better. Notable examples to buttress Chieftaincy titles unrelated to the settlements/village/jurisdiction abound. For example, the overlord of Dagboung is in Yendi and His title is Yaa Naa and NOT Yendi Naa/Naaba. Also, the Yagbonwura is in Damango and is NOT referenced as Damangowura.

The Nayiri, the overlord of Mamprugu is in Nalerigu and properly addressed as the Nayiri and not Mamprugu/Nalerigu Naba/Daana/Rana. Thus, the title of the Tamoung clan Chief in Bimbagu is Bagir Daana. It is the sole prerogative of newly enskinned chiefs to choose their titles anyway.
Distortion Number 8

The lawyer has also alleged that the newly established senior high/technical school (BISTECH) is on the Naniik lands even though the name of the school is Bimbagu Senior High Technical School. Where were Lawyer Dubik and his cohorts when the school was established?

Why is the school not named Naniik Senior High Technical School? Mr. Dubik if he is mindful should allow Bimbagu to develop in peace NOT pieces! The Tanmoung clan is pacifying a shrine on that said land. How can one clan own a land and another clan pacify the shrine on that same land?

Distortion number 9

In 2022 when this matter first came to the fore, a meeting was convened by the North-East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) through the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District Security Council (DISEC) at the behest of the Nayiri to allow these institutions to examine and address security vulnerabilities of the matter.

This meeting has been erroneously described as a judgement by Nayiri. DISEC and BNI reports will confirm the contrary. There was no judgment by the Overlord during the said meeting. The Overlord is fully aware of the Bagir Daana as the Bimoba Chief in Bimbagu and the Bimbagu Rana as the Konkomba Chief in Bimbagu.

Fact Number 1:

It is a fact that the Bagri Daana's jurisdiction does not share any boundaries with the Naniik Daana. One cannot share a boundary with someone who has no land. The Naniik Daana has no land in Bimbagu and its environs. The Bagri Daana (Chief of Bimoba Area in Bimbagu) has dominion over his sub-chiefs and their subjects. His jurisdiction is well defined by established borders with 3 (three) eminent Paramount Chiefs and a Divisional Chief in the Mamprugu Traditional Area, namely: (1).

The Nakpanduri Naba (Paramount chief of the Nakpanduri Traditional Area), (2). The Piib Rana (Paramount chief of the Binde Traditional Area), (3). The Yunyoo Rana (Paramount chief of the Yunyoo Traditional Area) and (4). The Bimbagu Rana (Divisional Chief of the Konkomba area in Bimbagu).

Fact Number 2:

It is also a fact that Napot Konlan (1st Naniik Daana) was originally settled at Nakpakli-Kunkook. He was a settler under the Bimbagu Rana (Konkomba Chief of Bimbagu) until he clandestinely went to be enskinned by the Nayiri without the knowledge and permission of the Bimbagu Rana. This was a chieftaincy title associated with the people of Naniik in Togo which was then under the jurisdiction of the Nayiri.

Fact Number 3:
The Naniik Daana was expelled from Nakpakli-Kunkook by the Bimbagu Rana for his clandestine enskinment. We are therefore not surprised by the malicious moves of this 3rd (present) Naniik Daana. Let it be known to the whole world that, the name of the present settlement of Naniik Daana is not Naniik but Bimbagu – Gberuk as it was known by our forefathers.

Fact Number 4

The Naniik Daana had to look for a new location and abode. Napot Konlan (the expelled Naniik Daana) was allowed to move into his kinsman Chamba Kanmoajual Laar whose deceased father had already been helped to settle on the Tukpaar (of Tanmoung clan) family land. It was Chamba Kanmoajual Laar who then facilitated through his maternal uncle Bagir Daana Kombian Duut to find a piece of land at Bimbagu - Gberuk for the Naniik Daana to settle.

It is also a fact that the Bimbagu Rana (Konkomba Chief) did caution the Bagri Daana not to accept to host Napot Konlan (Naniik Daana) after he (the Bimbagu Raana) had expelled him from his jurisdiction. Indeed, the Bimbagu Raana added that if his advice were to be ignored, one day the Tanmoung clan would regret their action. Several decades later down the line, the Bimbagu Rana's caution has become prophetic.

It has come to pass. For it is said that coming events cast their shadows. Our grandparents ignored the warning, they showed magnanimity, and today we are paying the price.

Fact Number 5

It is a fact that there was a bloody conflict between the Bimobas (Tanmung clan) and the Kombas in Bimbagu. The remote cause was about chieftaincy and land ownership. It is also a fact that the reasons for the conflict between the Bimobas (Tanmung clan) and the Kombas are now a thing of the past.

In 1989, after this Komba-Bimoba conflict in Bimbagu ended, the Nayiri (Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom) constituted an emissary of eminent chiefs in the area to supervise the blood burial ceremony in Bimbagu which signified the symbolic end of hostilities and the beginning of a new chapter of peaceful co-existence between the two tribes.

This ceremony took place at the accepted borderline (boundaries) between the Bagri Daana and the Bimbagu Rana and was supervised by eminent chiefs like; Piib-Rana of Binde, Yunyoo Rana of Yunyoo, the Bunkpurugu Naaba of Bunkpurugu and the Nakpanduri Naba of Nakpanduri. They were the eminent chiefs detailed to this task by the Nayiri. The Naniik Daana was not a party to this ceremony, not even remotely. May we refer Lawyer Dubik to:

1. His write-up dated 25/4/89 and titled: “ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN THE BUNKPURUGU-YUNYOO ARA OF THE MAMPRUSI DISTRICT”. In this seven-page write-up, he did elucidate copiously on the Bimobas and Kombas co-existing in harmony (albeit with some minor misunderstandings) in Bimbagu. Nowhere in this document is Naniik mentioned anyway.

Or was it his intention to rub shoulders with a prominent son of Bimbagu who had by then written to the then Northern Regional Security Committee on BIMBAGU ETHNIC CONFLICT - BACKGROUND AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS? Probably, trying to put himself in the limelight for social recognition. In fact, Mr. Dubik’s write-up is highly plagiarized from this first one. What a shame!

2. His Memo dated 13-4-1989 where he was entreating a Royal of the Bagir Daana skin of Bimbagu to consider being enskinned the next Bimbagu chief. Was this Bimoba man going to be a Bimoba or a Konkomba chief? Quite intriguing!
Is it not ironic (if not bizarre) that Mr Dubik is now claiming that the Tanmoung clan has no land and rather the Naniik clan share boundaries with the Bimbagu Raana? This is ridiculous.

Conclusion:

As law-abiding citizens/people/clans who have suffered several unprovoked attacks from other clans in the past, it is our prayer that the duty-bearers would critically examine the issues raised in our earlier press release objectively and impartially, and come to a determination of the truth. We would specifically urge the National Security apparatus to, as a matter of urgency, visit the community to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of our case and let the law take its course to avert any conflict.

May we state categorically that, we have chosen to ignore Mr. Dubik’s other 2 write-ups (25th August and 17th September 2024) as these are equally concocted labyrinths of lies without bases. We gratefully ask that any further information on this matter emanating from Lawyer Dubik should be out rightly ignored. He can remain ingrained in the self-inflicted web of falsehoods and continue churning out the same as long as he erroneously deems self-fulfilling!!

Long Live the Tanmoung Clan.
Long live the Bimbagu
Long Live Mamprugu Traditional Council
Long Live GHANA
Thank You.