Chairman of the National Peace Council Professor Emmanuel Asante has called for support for the new Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Abukari Mahama II, to bring development.

Speaking at the outdooring ceremony of the new Ya Na in Yendi in the Northern Region on Friday, 25 January 2019, Prof Asante urged other feuding tribes to take a cue from the unity of the people of Dagbon and resolve all conflicts to foster unity and development.

Prof Asante said: “As people of Dagbon and as Ghanaians we should try and come together and support the new Ya Na for the development of the Dagbon area and for that matter the entire Northern Region and Ghana as a whole.

“Places where there are pockets of conflicts, chieftaincy disputes, I’ll humbly urge Nananom to try as much as possible to ensure that peace prevails. There is nothing to be compared to peace and, so, once people have their grievances it is always better for people to sit together and talk. Like I always say Jaw-jaw is better than war-war and we want to plead with all the areas that let us take a cue from what has happened, it is a learning curve and as we learn from this, let us also do all we can to promote peace.”

Prof Asante further urged the new Ya Na to be a unifier.

“The new Ya Na must also try as much as possible to hold the hands of the different factions and to try to be a father for all, open his heart and try to bring them together, I think that is what we need,” he added.

Background

Following the killing of the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani II in 2002, the John Agyekum Kufuor government set up a Committee of Eminent Chiefs led by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to help find a solution to the crisis.

The committee in November 2018 presented a final road map for peace to President Nana Akufo-Addo. The road map also led to the successful performance of the funerals of Ya Na Abdulai and Ya Na Andani.

The kingmakers of Dagbon eventually selected Ya Na Abubakari Mahama II as the new overlord of the Dagbon traditional area.