......taking sides with Abudu Gate - Ex-Minister

Mr Prince Imoru Alhassan Andani, former Northern Regional Minister, on Wednesday said Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, Over Lord of Dagbon Traditional Area, accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of taking sides with his opponents.

Mr Andani was testifying as the sixth witness at the Wuaku Commission, which is probing the Yendi tragedy, in Sunyani. Mr George Owoo, a retired Chief State Attorney and Counsel for the Commission, who led him in evidence had asked the Ex-Minister what he knew about the disturbances at Yendi and what he did officially to prevent it.

Mr Andani explained that he heard about the disturbances on Sunday, 24 March when he returned from Accra from Mr Issah Ketekewu, Deputy Regional Minister, who briefed him about the situation.

He said Mr Ketekewu indicated his intention to leave for Accra after the briefing for a medical examination. The Ex-Minister said on the same day he received a message that Ya-Na Andani needed to see him urgently so he drove to Yendi but went first to the residence of Mr Mohammed Habibu Tijani, Yendi District Chief Executive, where he saw a District Security Committee (DISEC) meeting in progress.

He said the Committee told him about the looming crisis and the possibility of a clash between members of the Andani and Abudu Gates to Ya-Na Skin in connection with the celebration of the impending Bugum (Fire) festival.

Mr Andani, who identified himself as a director of Management Aid (MAID), a Tamale based non-governmental organisation (NGO), said the DCE informed him that he DCE had also been invited by the Ya-Na and advised that it was not safe for him to go.

He said he told the DCE that in order not for the government to be misconstrued as favouring one side he decided to go and listen to the Ya-Na. Mr Andani said the Ya-Na told him that he had heard that a curfew was to be imposed to coincide with the Bugum festival. "It seems that your government is one sided", the Ex-Minister quoted the Ya-Na as having said.

The Ex-Minister said the Ya-Na alleged that whenever government officials came to Yendi they visited the Bolin Lana, Leader of the Abudu Gate, to greet him as well. The Bolin Lana is the eldest son of former Ya-Na Mohammed Abdulai. He said Ya-Na interpreted the calls on the Bolin Lana by the government officials as recognition of two Over Lords of Dagbon.

Mr Andani said he told "the Ya-Na that that claim or suspicion was a misconception, because as a party in government, we recognise all opinion leaders in every community nation-wide".

The former Minister said at that point the Ya-Na retorted that; "In February I allowed the Abudu Gate to also celebrate the Eid Ul Adha when he (Ya Na) had already protested to me. He explained that the Ya-Na had indeed protested against the celebration of the Eid Ul Adha but he managed to broker a compromise at meeting he held with him.

He said at meeting with the Ya-Na he "asked the Ya-Na to point out what aspects of the Eid Ul Adha celebration by any other group would contradict and undermine the authority or usurp the power of his kingship".

He said the Ya-Na Andani replied that it was the carrying of the gods. Mr Andani said to ensure peace in the area he directed the DCE to talk to the Abudu Gate to celebrate only the religious aspect of the festival without carrying the gods, adding that they obliged and the Eid Ul Adha festival was celebrated peacefully.

The former Minister said Ya-Na Andani asked him to convince him (Ya-Na) that the government was a balanced one and that he should assure him that whatever was done would be fair to both parties.

He said be asked the Ya-Na to give an assurance as a guarantee that the celebration of the fire festival would be peaceful, to which he obliged. Mr Andani said the DCE accompanied him to meet the Bolin Lana and his elders to inform them of what transpired between them and the Ya-Na.

He said the Abudu Gate was not happy with the stance of Ya-Na to continue with the celebration of the fire festival. The Ex-Minister said the Abudus accused the Ya-Na of not being fair to them and that he had cheated them for far too long. Mr Andani said he and the DCE went to confer with the Ya-Na again and the king reiterated his assurance that the celebration would be peaceful.

The former Minister told the Commission that on Monday, 25 March they had a report from the DISEC that the situation in Yendi had become so tense that for security reasons it was not appropriate to allow the festival to be celebrated.

Mr Andani said following the report a Regional Security Council (REGSEC) meeting was convened and the curfew that had been lifted earlier on Sunday was re-imposed and this was communicated to the DISEC at Yendi and an announcement to that effect was carried on Radio Savannah, a Ghana Broadcasting Corporation FM station in Tamale.

He said due to the assurance that had been given to him by the Regional and Yendi District Security Commanders that the order would be enforced to avert any clash, he proceeded to Accra on Tuesday to notify government authorities about the need to commence reconciliation talks to resolve the differences between the two Gates.

"I was at the IGP's (Inspector General of Police) office on Wednesday trying together to identify some leaders of the two Gates to be invited for the reconciliation talks when I heard of the Ya-Na's death", Mr Andani said.

Mr Justice Isaac Newton Wuaku, Chairman of the Commission, then asked the Ex-Minister about the reception of the elders and other members of the family at the palace when the Ya-Na summoned him there. "They were unfriendly and said all sorts of things that I was a royal and was showing disrespect to the king", the Ex-Minister replied.

He, however, added that despite that reaction, "I was focused because I was there for business". When Professor Kwesi Yankah, a member of the Commission, asked where he was when the REGSEC sought permission from the Minister of the Interior to impose the curfew, Mr Andani replied that, he was then in Accra on official duties.

Mr Andani explained that he ordered the lifting of the curfew that was earlier on imposed based on the command given by the Ya-Na that he the king would bear responsibility for any clash.

The Ya-Na needed to celebrate the festival to pacify the gods, he said, explaining that, as the king and custodian of the gods, it was his sole preserve to perform the pacification rites.

Mr Andani emphasised that the lifting of the earlier curfew was not intended to fuel the mounting tension because he was conscious of his position as a minister and could not have done anything to discredit the government. "I studied the situation to see if the lifting of the curfew would be in the interest of the government before I carried it out. By using my discretional powers," he said.

When asked why he went to Accra on 26 March against the background of brewing tension instead of using the telephone to relay the information to Accra, the Ex-Minister replied that the trip was to begin a process of reconciliation.

"I felt the issues were sensitive, so it was unsafe to discuss them on phone, hence I deemed it necessary to go to Accra to confer with the appropriate government officials."

Mr Issah Ketekewu, Deputy Northern Regional Minister and seventh witness, told the Commission that on Friday 22 March, he returned to Tamale after the commissioning of an European Union sponsored project at Walewale to learn that a letter from the Yendi DISEC signed by the DCE on 21 March and addressed to the Regional Minister indicated that the fire festival had been postponed.

He said in view of the region's background as a conflict prone area, the REGSEC granted the request of the DISEC but because the final decision to grant such a request rested with the President or Minister of the Interior, they informed Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, the Ex-Minister for the Interior.

Mr Ketekewu said Alhaji Yakubu requested for a formal letter, which was despatched immediately for his consideration. That same day, at about 9pm hours Alhaji Yakubu faxed a reply, signed by him that the curfew order should take effect; the Deputy Minister said.

He said the REGSEC on Saturday 23 March met on Alhaji Yakubu's letter and delivered a copy to the DISEC at Yendi to carry on with the curfew order. A faxed copy of the letter was tendered in evidence. The Deputy Regional Minister said he left for Accra on Sunday 24 March after he had briefed the Regional Minister about the situation.

He said on his return to Tamale at 4pm on Wednesday, 27 March he saw a REGSEC meeting being chaired by the Tamale Municipal Chief Executive and it was at that meeting that he heard that there had been a factional clash at Yendi and the Ya-Na had even died.

Mr Ketekewu told the Commission that the Gulkpe Na's Regent, the traditional ruler of Tamale, appeared at the meeting with the request that the curfew order should be lifted in the Tamale Municipality because the conflict was only in Yendi. The Deputy Minister said he did not grant the request on the grounds that the imposition was an order from the government so they had to abide by it.

Earlier on, the fourth and fifth Commission witnesses, Lance Corporal Lennox Agor, a driver of the Mowag in Yendi and Lance Corporal Afetenu, a gunner, both of the Yendi Military Detachment testified before the Commission.