Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader in Parliament, has called on Ghanaians to see the Yendi chieftaincy conflict as a national problem and not as a government or political problem. ''Nobody should, therefore, try to play politics with what has happened in Yendi,'' Mr Bagbin said at separate meetings with leaders of the Andani and Abudu's gates.

He was leading a two-member Minority delegation to Yendi following the assassination of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, Paramount Chief of Dagomba Traditional Area and the murder of 29 others. The other member of the delegation was Madam Alice Boon, Member of Parliament for Lambussie.

Mr Bagbin said the introduction of politics into the crisis would cloud the minds and thinking of people and thus ''divert the course of justice''. The Minority Leader said because of the sensitive nature of the problem, Parliament could not debate it. He said parliament would review the six weeks' State of Emergency, depending on the security situation to enable them to go to their farms

Mr Bagbin urged the people to preach peace while the government looked into the root causes of the problem to find a lasting solution to it. He told the factions to ''open up their hearts and talk peace if not finding a lasting solution to the conflict would be impossible and unachievable.

"All those preaching animosity and creating confusion should be seen as no true sons of Dagbon," he said. The Minority leader appealed to religious bodies to pray to God to intervene to bring peace to the area.

''I urge leaders of the two gates to bring their wisdom and influence to bear on the youth to stop creating confusion,'' Mr Bagbin said and called on non-governmental organisations to assist victims of the conflict.

Madam Boon urged women to caution their husbands to maintain peace in the communities at all times. "You should know that in any conflict situation it is women and their children who suffer most", she said. The leaders of the two gates pledged their support and co-operation with the government to find a lasting solution to the problem.