Statement Released By The Abudu Royal Family TO THE MEDIA AT A PRESS CONFERENCE IN NANTONG ON THURSDAY APRIL 14, 2011 ON THE WAY FORWARD FOR DAGBON.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, I wish to welcome you to this press conference organized by the Abudu Royal family under the auspices of the Nantong-Naa. We are most grateful for your time.

We called this press conference to share with you our position on the state of affairs of our kingdom. We appreciate the fact that matters concerning the dagbon traditional area are of paramount interest to you and to the whole nation. As custodians of the customs and traditions of our people, we, the chiefs from the Abudu gate of the dagbon chieftaincy divide, deem it a great pleasure to share our views on some topical issues concerning the dagbon kingdom.

The great dagbon kingdom has travelled a long journey since its formation in the fifteenth century by our forefathers. This journey has taken our people through the highways of wars and tribulations; but the resilience of our souls, and the spirits of our ancestors have sustained the kingdom for over six hundred years now. Today, our kingdom is at a cross road. Ever since the tragic events of March 2002, our great kingdom has not been the same. We have travelled nine years as a divided people, consumed with hatred for each other, and motivated by the dangerous call for revenge, retaliation, and retribution. The state of the Dagbon kingdom today is not the best.

As we gather here this morning, we are not unmindful of the pain and suffering of all those who lost their love ones during the unfortunate event of March 2002. The death of our king, the overlord of our kingdom, was a calamity of enormous proportion. We add our voice to the numerous calls on the government to fine those who killed the Ya-Na. We understand that the criminal investigation to unravel the events that led to the death of the overlord is an ongoing process. The Abudu family will continue to cooperate with government in its effort to find those who killed the Ya-Naa. We also wish to call on government to expand its investigation to cover all those who died in Yendi during the three day war. Last year, a formal complaint was made to government about the death of three members from the Abudu gate during the war. The names of the three, Mahama Teen- billa, Dahmani Iddi, and Shahadu Sibidoo, were submitted to the authorities. We are aware that the Attorney General office instructed the police to effect the arrest of some individuals in connection with the death of these three. However, there has so far not been any action on this matter by the police. We pray that justice will be served for all those who lost their lives during the war.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you will recall that the NPP government established the Committee of Eminent Chiefs to look into the traditional matters of the dagbon conflict. After a long period of deliberations, negotiations, and diplomacy, the Committee presented a document entitled the “Roadmap to Peace” to the government. The document was endorsed by accredited representatives of the Royal Andani and Abudu families. The NPP government adopted the document as an Executive Instrument for peace building in dagbon. The Roadmap enumerated five major benchmarks in the peace building process. These benchmarks include the burial of the overlord of dagbon; the installation of the regent of the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani; the performance of the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai; the performance of the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II; and finally the selection and enskinment of a new Ya-Naa.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the NPP government succeeded in implementing the first two benchmarks, which both inured to the benefit of the Andani Royal family. The second benchmark, installation of regent, was implemented in 2006. Almost five years after the installation of regent, the Committee has not been able to implement the third benchmark on the Roadmap, that is, the performance of the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai. This third benchmark, if implemented, will inure to the benefit of the Abudu Royal Family. We have impressed upon the Committee on numerous occasions to implement the third benchmark, all to no avail. In January last year, the family wrote a fourteen page petition signed by seventeen chiefs from the Abudu Gate to the Committee of Eminent Chiefs. In that petition, we gave compelling reasons why the funeral should be perform in the Gbewaa palace. We supported these reasons with facts and historical documents. We concluded the petition by stating that we will no longer continue to subject ourselves to a process that seems to be going nowhere; and that we shall not attend any meeting that is not intended to discuss the implementation of the third benchmark. Unfortunately, the Committee failed to even acknowledge receipt of our petition.

We wish to state here, for the avoidance of doubt, that the statement released in November last year regarding our withdrawal from the peace process was released on behalf of the entire Abudu Royal family. Our spokesperson was equipped with authority to release the statement. The opinion expressed in the media by the Vice President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, on this matter, is totally false and misleading. The family believes strongly that the Committee failed to act in good faith on the issue of where to perform the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai. Where as the Roadmap is very clear that the funeral should be perform in the Gbewaa Palace, the Committee directed otherwise. The Abudu family is very resolute in our position that the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai should be perform in the Gbewaa Palace as that of a Ya-Na.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the way forward for peace in dagbon is the full implementation of the Roadmap to peace. We welcome the president’s call on the Committee of Eminent Chiefs to continue with their work. In the supreme interest of peace and reconciliation in Dagbon, the Abudu family will return to the mediation process. We pray that the Committee will appreciate the fierce urgency of the moment, and expedite action on the full and unconditional performance of the funeral of the late Ya-Na Mahamadu Abdulai in the Gbewaa palace. This is no time for further negotiations and debate on this matter. The Committee must move past indecision to action. There is preponderance of evidence before the Committee supporting the performance of the funeral in the Gbewaa palace. We are not interesting in an endless debate on this matter with our brothers from the Andani Royal family. This is a great opportunity for all of us to seize the moment, and hew a stone of hope out of the mountain of despair.

The lack of progress in implementing the roadmap to peace has dangerously created a vacuum for people who are ill-intended to take advantage of the situation. In October last year, a letter purported to have been written by the Kug’naa was addressed to the President from the Kug’naa’s palace. In the said letter, he attached a program of action designed to restore peace in dagbon. He outlined an elaborate plan to perform funerals leading to the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II, and the selection of a new Ya-Naa. Conspicuously missing on his list of funerals to be perform is the funeral of the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai. This program, ladies and gentlemen, is a recipe for disaster and conflict in Dagbon. We urge the President to treat the said letter with contempt. We wish to state categorically, that any person who thinks that the Abudu Royal family has no place in the future of dagbon is only entertaining a figment of his imagination. The performance of the funeral of the late Ya-Na Mahamadu Abdulai in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling of 1986; the Memorandum of Agreement of 1987; and the Roadmap to peace of 2006 is key and fundamental to the peace building process in Dagbon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the history of all people is the history of internal struggle and conflict. Unfortunately for Dagbon, our conflict has been politicized by politicians who have shamefully exploited our difference for their parochial interest. We call on all Dagombas, Abudus and Andanis, to be weary of politicians from all political parties whose only agenda is to feed into the emotions of our people to enhance their electoral fortunes.

Posterity will judge all of us on how we as a people were able to transform the jangling discourse of our time into a beautiful symphony for our children and grandchildren. As we leave here today, let us all pledge that we will no longer worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of revenge and retaliation. We should be able to sit together at one table as true sons and daughters of Naa Gbewaa, and not as Abudus and Andanis. It is about time that we discover a way to live together in peace and unity as brothers and sisters. We are one people with one destiny.

Thank you for your attention. May God continue to bless our kingdom, and our country.