PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo asks Dagbon State to rally behind new Ya-Na
Accra, Ghana ( PANA) Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Friday appealed to all sons and daughters of Dagbon State in northern Ghana to unite behind their new leader, according to media reports monitored by PANA.
The president was addressing the chiefs and people of Dagbon at the official enskinment and outdooring of the new Ya-Na at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi.
Describing the new Ya-Na as a man of peace, unity and reconciliation, President Akufo-Addo said he believed that from a few decisions he had taken since his selection as Ya-Na, he believed that he was the man to “reconcile Dagbon and blunt the age-old rivalry of Abudu versus Andani and put Dagbon back on the path to sustained progress and prosperity as was envisaged by one of the greatest figures in the history of Dagbon, the 18th Ya-Na, Na Zangina”.
The ceremony, he admonished, “should put paid to a long struggle, over several decades, for the ‘namship’ of Dagbon which had brought in its wake death, destruction and retrogression of the Dagbon State”.
The president admonished the people of Dagbon to take cognizance of the fact that there would be a small minority who would not be happy with the new status quo.
This, he noted, was because there were a handful of malcontents who had benefited for a long time from the conflict and ‘never wanted to see its end’.
“We have to be resolute in warding off such people by strengthening the process of reconciliation amongst the people of Dagbon,” the president said.
President Akufo-Addo announced that Cabinet, last week, approved a $30 million water supply project that would replace the old and dilapidated water system in Yendi and its catchment area.
“My Government is working to put in place the infrastructure that will allow us to exploit the iron ore deposits in Sheini. On the back of that exploitation, we shall put a railway line to run from Accra through the Volta Region and the new Oti Region and through Yendi to Burkina Faso,” the President added.
The project, he said, would “will bring considerable prosperity to the people of Yendi, and help eradicate the poverty that gives the Northern Region the unenviable title of being one of the poorest regions of our country.”
To the new Ya-Na, President Akufo-Addo pledged that he would do everything in his power to assist him to administer the State of Dagbon in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
The president congratulated the Committee of Eminent Chiefs chaired by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, together with the Overlord of Mamprugu, the Nayiri, Naa Bohugu Abdulai MahamiSheriga, and the Overlord of the Gonja State, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa Sulemana Jakpa, for their untiring efforts at brokering the peace and reconciliation between the Abudus and Andani royal houses of Dagbon
He also applauded the wisdom of the second president of the fourth republic, John Agyekum Kufuor’s decision to establish the Committee of Eminent Chiefs in 2002 to find the instrument to deal with the crisis in Dagbon.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his gratitude to all the chiefs and members of the Andani and Abudu Royal families - Yakubu Abdulai Andani, formerly the Kampakuya Na; and Abdulai Mahamadu, formerly the Bolin Lana for their deep sense of cooperation and understanding.
“You have written your names in gold for your constructive contribution to the success of today’s events, and when the chronicles of Dagbon are written and told to generations unborn, you shall each be mentioned with pride.”
The two royal gates to the Dagbon state have been embroiled in fractricidal conflict following the murder of former overlord, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani and more than a dozen of his sub-chiefs by unidentified persons.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings, in a special message for the occasion, congratulated Ya-Na Abubakari Mahama and people of Dagbon for what he termed “this historic achievement”.
“The people of Dagbon have gone through a difficult and painful period since 2002 and it is a sign of great maturity, tact and patience that the process of the burial ceremonies of the Ya-Naa and investiture of the new Overlord have progressed in relative peace.”
He again commended the committee of eminent chiefs for their painstaking efforts in bringing about this welcome development.
Peace will be perpetuated in Dagbon if the traditional leaders and people of Dagbon commit to the fact that they are brothers and agree to live in an atmosphere of justice, peace and harmony,” he stated..
-0- PANA RA 25Jan2019
The president was addressing the chiefs and people of Dagbon at the official enskinment and outdooring of the new Ya-Na at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi.
Describing the new Ya-Na as a man of peace, unity and reconciliation, President Akufo-Addo said he believed that from a few decisions he had taken since his selection as Ya-Na, he believed that he was the man to “reconcile Dagbon and blunt the age-old rivalry of Abudu versus Andani and put Dagbon back on the path to sustained progress and prosperity as was envisaged by one of the greatest figures in the history of Dagbon, the 18th Ya-Na, Na Zangina”.
The ceremony, he admonished, “should put paid to a long struggle, over several decades, for the ‘namship’ of Dagbon which had brought in its wake death, destruction and retrogression of the Dagbon State”.
The president admonished the people of Dagbon to take cognizance of the fact that there would be a small minority who would not be happy with the new status quo.
This, he noted, was because there were a handful of malcontents who had benefited for a long time from the conflict and ‘never wanted to see its end’.
“We have to be resolute in warding off such people by strengthening the process of reconciliation amongst the people of Dagbon,” the president said.
President Akufo-Addo announced that Cabinet, last week, approved a $30 million water supply project that would replace the old and dilapidated water system in Yendi and its catchment area.
“My Government is working to put in place the infrastructure that will allow us to exploit the iron ore deposits in Sheini. On the back of that exploitation, we shall put a railway line to run from Accra through the Volta Region and the new Oti Region and through Yendi to Burkina Faso,” the President added.
The project, he said, would “will bring considerable prosperity to the people of Yendi, and help eradicate the poverty that gives the Northern Region the unenviable title of being one of the poorest regions of our country.”
To the new Ya-Na, President Akufo-Addo pledged that he would do everything in his power to assist him to administer the State of Dagbon in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
The president congratulated the Committee of Eminent Chiefs chaired by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, together with the Overlord of Mamprugu, the Nayiri, Naa Bohugu Abdulai MahamiSheriga, and the Overlord of the Gonja State, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa Sulemana Jakpa, for their untiring efforts at brokering the peace and reconciliation between the Abudus and Andani royal houses of Dagbon
He also applauded the wisdom of the second president of the fourth republic, John Agyekum Kufuor’s decision to establish the Committee of Eminent Chiefs in 2002 to find the instrument to deal with the crisis in Dagbon.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his gratitude to all the chiefs and members of the Andani and Abudu Royal families - Yakubu Abdulai Andani, formerly the Kampakuya Na; and Abdulai Mahamadu, formerly the Bolin Lana for their deep sense of cooperation and understanding.
“You have written your names in gold for your constructive contribution to the success of today’s events, and when the chronicles of Dagbon are written and told to generations unborn, you shall each be mentioned with pride.”
The two royal gates to the Dagbon state have been embroiled in fractricidal conflict following the murder of former overlord, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani and more than a dozen of his sub-chiefs by unidentified persons.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings, in a special message for the occasion, congratulated Ya-Na Abubakari Mahama and people of Dagbon for what he termed “this historic achievement”.
“The people of Dagbon have gone through a difficult and painful period since 2002 and it is a sign of great maturity, tact and patience that the process of the burial ceremonies of the Ya-Naa and investiture of the new Overlord have progressed in relative peace.”
He again commended the committee of eminent chiefs for their painstaking efforts in bringing about this welcome development.
Peace will be perpetuated in Dagbon if the traditional leaders and people of Dagbon commit to the fact that they are brothers and agree to live in an atmosphere of justice, peace and harmony,” he stated..
-0- PANA RA 25Jan2019
