Division hits Andani family

• Posted on December 19, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

Infighting has hit the Andani Royal Family a week after government begun implementation and enforcement of the final resolution reached by the Asantehene led mediation committee which seeks to bring about a permanent end to the aged Dagbon chieftaincy stalemate between the Abudu and Andani factions.

This development threatens the goal of peaceful traditional transition in Dagbon and if persists, according to experts, increases the possibility of power sharing resolution, which the mediation committee may be compelled to adopt as the only means to help reduce the possibility of another outbreak of conflict.

The division is rapidly escalating between the extended and nuclear family groups of the late Yaa Naa Yakubu II, who are now embroiled in unhealthy media battle over the performance of the late murdered Yaa Naa’s funeral.

On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, the chairman of the committee of Eminent Kings, Asantehene Osei Tutu II, presented  the final decision of their mediation to President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo, for an executive order.

The decision was the outcome of a 12yr Old (March 30, 2006) turbulent negotiations between the committee and representatives of the feuding families following intense clashes in 2002 that led to the killing of the sitting overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II.

The committee said both sides had reached a compromise to allow the smooth implementation of the roadmap to peace document. The document, essentially contains series of resolutions accepted by both factions at different time during the negotiations period.

The Asantehene announced that, per the road to peace treaty, the Abudu Family was to have access to occupy the Old Gbewaa Palace on Dec. 14, to perform the funeral of late Naa Mahamadu Abdulai IV.

The Family was to vacate and handover the Palace to government in two weeks period, which falls on Dec. 28.  Government would then yield control to the Andanis for the funeral of late Naa Yakubu Andani II, from January 4 – 18, 2018.  And by January 19, a new Yaa Naa would be installed, he would in turn enkins  the the Kampakuyana and Bolin Lana to Savelugu and Mion respectively.

Andani Family Pulls Out of Mediation Process

However, days after activities under the roadmap started to roll out and three weeks after the announcement by the Asantehene, a section of the Andani Family held a press conference in Tamale to ultimately announced  their rejection of the peace deal.

Even before this press conference, the Regent and First son of the late Yaa Yakubu Andani II, Kampakuyana Abdulai Yakubu blasted representatives of the Andani Family at the Committee, accusing them of disloyalty and betrayal of his late father. He then said his father’s funeral would not be performed.

The Kampakuyana is supported by several top chiefs of the Andani faction, including: Regent of Karaga, kpating Lana, Zorgu Lana, Tong Lana,Waribogu Lana, Moglaa Lana, Nyankpal Lana and Kpan Lana.

On Saturday, Dec. 16, just a day after the new Regent was officially installed, the Kpan Naa, NaabaPra Abubakari Andani addressed the media on a number of issues about the final decision of the Asantehene led committee.

The group also targeted the Asantehene with series of strong criticisms and remarks,   describing him as  “patronizing, “, “bias” and “inconsistent”.

The Kpan Lana in that conference also descended on the representatives of the Andani Family at the committee. He said those people did not have the authority of the family to do so, thus, they weren’t going to respect the decision of the committee.

“While we are still on the subject of moral principle, we have taken note of the attempt to rig the mediation process in order to achieve a rather sinister objective. In this connection, we state emphatically that those individuals the Asantehene paraded at the Flagstaff House as representatives of the Andani Royal Family have never been authorized by the Andani Royal Family to represent the family in any capacity whatsoever”.

“Indeed, Kampakuya Naa had earlier in the mediation process, sent a letter to the Asantehene, stating clearly the names of the authorized representatives of the Andani Family. The list did not include any of those who were presented at the Flagstaff house as representing the Andani Royal Family. By choosing to deal with individuals who lack the requisite legitimacy in matters of such critical importance, the Asantehene and the Committee of Eminent Chiefs have demonstrated clearly that their agenda is not an honorable one”.

“We wonder how the Otumfuo and his Committee hope to make progress with the program they rolled out at the Flagstaff House when major players around whom the program will revolve have been so cynically ignored in favor of a self-seeking group which has no legitimacy. What therefore the Asantehene and the Committee of Eminent Chiefs have done is to shoot first and aim later. Predictably, they have missed the point, and the entire program is destined to crumble like a vase hit by a sledgehammer. For the information of the Asantehene, the Committee of Eminent Chiefs and the wider Ghanaian public, more than two weeks after participating in the ceremony at the Flagstaff House, the purported representatives of the Andani Family have dared not report back to the children, widows, and larger family of the late Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II on decisions taken on the performance of their father, husband and brother by the Asantehene and his Committee”.

“They have also not reported to the custodians of Dagbon traditions and custom who have very important roles to play in the ceremonies associated with the funerals and related issues. We can confirm to you, ladies and gentlemen, that these individuals dare not approach the family on this matter, because they know they are traitors and are afraid of the consequences of their treachery”, the Kpan Lana said.

The effect of the press conference frightened mediators and third party interest groups including government and drew sharp responses from multiple fronts in the mediation efforts.  The Asantehene committee and government responded concurrently by dispatching reps to hold emergency meetings with the Abudus and Andanis at Yendi.

Led into the Palaces on Sunday, Dec. 16, were representatives of the Three Eminent Kings and government delegation including the National Security Minister, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed.

Counter Press Conference.

But these claims would not go unchallenged. A counter press conference was held Monday morning at the private residence of chief of Kumbungu in Tamale  by a new group, speaking on behalf of the Andani chiefs who represented the Family at the committee.

These chiefs are : Vo-Naa Alhaji M. B Bawah, Warvi-Naa Andani Mahama, Lamashegu Naa, Alhaji Ziblim Abdulai, Zangbaling Regent, Yakubu Mahama, Tibung Regent, Abdulai Abukari, Gbermanda, Mahama Yakubu, Tampion Lana Alhassan Andani, the late Sung Lana Mahama, Duko Naa.

The press conference addressed by Baba Issifu, National spokesman of the Andani Youth Association, denied all the allegations of wrongdoing against the representatives and insisted that the decision by the committee was not an imposition on the Andani Family as claimed earlier by the other faction.

He also denied claims that the Andani Family representatives were not authorized by the family at the committee and yet to also report details of the decision to the children ,wives and grandchildren of the late Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II.

He said those who claimed to have pulled out of the roadmap declaration couldn’t have done so on behalf of the Andani Family because they have never been part of the mediation process.

“On the return of the above mentioned representatives of the family to Dagbon, Yoo Naa Abukari VII, Head of the Andani Family, asked the Vo Naa, Tong Lana, Kpatin Lana and Woribogu Lana, to go to Yendi to inform the Kampakuyana Naa Abdulai of the decision reached by the two royal families at Manhyia Palace. So for Kampakuyana Naa to claim as he did on social media that no one informed him of the decision reached at Manhyia Palace is far from truth”.

“It was these representatives of Andani Family who worked at the Committee sittings which produced the roadmap in March 2006, which gave birth to the Kampakuyana’s regency and solved many other issues of the peace process. It is very lamentable that persons who have no locus whatsoever in regard of matters related to the committee would dream up a statement purporting to be withdrawal of the Andani Royal Family from the Committee which had completed it proceeding three weeks earlier”, Baba Issifu stated from a prepared speech.

He also addressed the “unwarranted attacks on the Asantehene and his colleagues”, likening it to “the story of a man whose jaw was broken and a Good Samaritan appeared on the scene and asked the victim to hold the jaw firmly while he looks for a rope to tie it and when his search for the rope was taking sometime, the victim shouted: ‘I will leave my jaw if you are delaying’ ”

He ended by sounding warning that the law will deal decisively with any individual or groups within the Family who might be planning to cause problems at this crucial moment.

“Let Kampakuyana and the faceless so called Andani Family representatives to the peace talks know that if they create problems greater than what exists in Dagbon now, the law will deal with them. We the Andani Family want people to whose ignorant of the fact to know, that by Dagbon customs and traditions it is the uncles and brothers of a deceased person who perform his funeral rites. It’s not the children of a deceased person who are responsible for performing his funeral”.