Former Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier General (rtd) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the progress made in the age-old conflict that has been the bane of development in Dagbon.
On Friday, January 25, a new Ya-Naa was outdoored, signifying the end to the protracted chieftaincy conflict that saw the assassination of a reigning paramount chief in 2002.
Several lives were lost as relatives from the Abudu and Andani royal gates fought each other.
Way back in 2002, then President John Agyekum Kufuor appointed a three-member commission chaired by Justice INK Wuaku to investigate the circumstances that led to bloodshed in Dagbon traditional capital of Yendi in the Northern Region.
A year later, President Kufuor tasked three eminent chiefs led by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to find a lasting solution to the conflict.
But since then success to finding peace has been in trickles.
A major breakthrough was recorded on Wednesday, November 21, 2018, when the Committee of Eminent Chiefs presented its final report to President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House.
Periods were given to the two gates to observe funerals for their respective late leaders.
Abudus performed a funeral for the late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai IV between Thursday, December 13, 2018 and Friday, December 28, 2018.
The Andanis, on the other hand, held the funeral for the late Yakubu Andani in January, ending with the selection of Ya-Naa Mahama Abukari II as the new overlord of Dagbon.
President Akufo-Addo led a high-powered government delegation to the coronation held near the renovated Naa-Gbewaa Palace in Yendi. The old palace was razed down during the conflict.
A panelist on TV3’s The Keypoints on Saturday, the former presidential security advisor further urged the president to channel efforts into resolving other chieftaincy disputes in other parts of the country.
He cited his hometown as one place President Akufo-Addo can turn his attention to.
The avowed disciplinarian advised politicians to stay off such cases as they turn to stoke the flames, leading to bloodshed.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana