NEWS CONFERENCE BY GUBDANDA YOUTH OF DAGBON IN RESPONSE TO STATEMENTS BY THE CONCERNED YOUTH OF THE ANDANI ROYAL FAMILY: MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen of the media!

We thank you very much for responding to our invitation to attend this news conference, the subject matter of which is a news item posted on GhanaWeb on 28 January, 2013. In that news item a group calling itself Concerned Youth of the Andani Royal Family in Dagbon mentioned some three individuals whom it accused of misrepresenting the family’s interest at the Presidency and using the Andani gate to achieve what it says are their personal gains in government.

We would like to make it clear that the group in question, which was used only as cannon fodder by one particular faceless individual, is not worth our attention in this matter, and we accordingly brush it aside.

We are challenging that faceless and cowardly individual or group of individuals who are hiding behind these young and ill-informed young men to come out publicly and openly debate those pertinent issues which have led the Andani family to its current and immediate past predicament.

For the reasons stated above, we say quite emphatically that we know that faceless individual behind the news conference in question and especially behind the attack on the Chief Executive Officer of the Gbewaa Group of Companies Mr. Yakubu Kasuli. This faceless individual is a stranger in Dagbon and has been in the forefront of the exploitation of Dagbon since the 1960s. Throughout this period, it is he who has consistently misused the Andani Royal gate for personal gain and in the process, he literally usurped the powers of the late King of Dagbon Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II.

For most of the period of the reign of Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II, this faceless individual was virtually the overlord of Dagbon, and no chief could ascend to any Dagbon skin without his consent and approval. As a result of this, he assumed a larger-than-life stature in Dagbon with prominent chiefs of Dagbon, and even the late Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II virtually prostrating at his feet.

He not only made and unmade chiefs in Dagbon, he also used the authority he usurped from the Yaa Naa, to amass an incredible amount of wealth. And this wealth is not only in the amounts of money and herds of cattle that contestants for vacant skins paid to him, but even more conspicuous are the vast stretches of high-value Dagbon lands that he appropriated and continues to appropriate to himself.

His presence in the political life of the Andani family has even been more harmful to the fortunes of the family. For the avoidance of doubt we would like to state that the original political leanings of this faceless individual were in the Busia-Danquah tradition. He even served as a Minister of State in the Ankrah and Afrifa-led military regime which overthrew the legitimate government of the greatest leader that Ghana and indeed Africa has ever had, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory. Throughout his political career he has worked to undermine the cohesion and progress of the Nkrumah family and has always been quick to throw his weight behind the adversaries of this political family.

Among the accusations leveled against Mr. Kasuli at the news conference under review here is that he sponsored some independent parliamentary candidates to unseat NDC MPs. This is palpably false. The only NDC Member of Parliament in Dagbon who lost to an independent candidate was defeated on account of his abysmal record as MP for more than ten years. His defeat was so evident that even his own constituency executives abandoned him. Mr. Kasuli had no hand whatsoever in his defeat.

In any case which prominent person in Dagbon has been more harmful to the fortunes of the NDC in Dagbon than that faceless individual? It is on record that he delivered almost the entirety of the Andani vote in Dagbon and across the country to the NPP during the presidential runoff in the 2000 elections. This was despite the fact that he had been cautioned about the evil intentions of the NPP and about credible rumours that an NPP government would harm Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II. In other words, he contributed significantly to the defeat of the NDC in the 2000 election. And the Andani family will never forget the terrible eight years of NPP tyranny, bloodshed, pain and tears.

We are thankful to Allah for the peace and relative tranquility that Dagbon is currently enjoying. And we entreat all well-meaning citizens of Dagbon to rally behind the overlord of Dagbon Kampakuya Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andani and support him in his quest to stabilize Dagbon and move it forward in the direction of positive development.

To the group calling itself Concerned Youth of the Andani Royal family, we would like to say that a wind of change is blowing across Dagbon and the Andani family in particular. They can decide to be either a part of the solution or a part of the problem. The days of that person they consider as a hero are over. They should look around him and see which person of real substance is in his company these days. All those who have associated with him at one time or the other in the past have all abandoned him. He can’t always be right. The fact is that he is more concerned about amassing wealth and power than the progress of Dagbon, and because he is a stranger, he has nothing to lose if Dagbon is destroyed.

As legitimate indigenes we have a higher stake in the progress of Dagbon, and we shall do everything in our power to stop this faceless individual from destroying it.

Thank you.