Dagbon Traditional Council remains adamant; “We won’t cede any part of our land to proposed North East Region.”

The Dagbon Traditional Council has reiterated its position that it would not cede any part of their land to the North East Region.

In a statesment issued at the Gbewaa palace in Yendi and signed by the Acting President of the Dagbon Traditional Council, it said its position remains unchanged.

BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT 

It has come to the attention of the Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council that behind scenes efforts are being made to cede part of Dagbↄŋ, specifically, Chereponi, to become part of the proposed North-East Region.

Despite the unequivocal statement to the Presidential Commission on Regional Reorganization at the recent Tamale meeting that Chereponi is part of Dagbↄŋ and will continue to remain in the Northern Region, it appears that some key politicians are determined to do the contrary.

It would be recalled that the Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council at its meeting on 23rd December 2017 resolved not to cede any part of its traditional area for the formation of new regions.
While we respect the demands of the Traditional Areas that are seeking the creation of new regions we expect that others would equally respect our collective and unified stand that our Traditional Area should remain together in one region.

Our joint Memorandum on the matter, submitted with the Nanumba Traditional Council, faithfully conveyed our decision, which remains unchanged. We are aware of the use of deception, chicanery and subterfuge in procuring signatures or thumbprints of some chiefs in Dagbↄŋ under the guise that government by an executive fiat has added their districts to different regions.

We want to state emphatically that such actions do not in any way augur well for the fragile peace in the Northern Region.

The key chiefs of the Chereponi district, supported by their people, fully endorsed the Joint Dagbↄŋ/Nanung Memorandum on the matter and have since also addressed the Commission and the press, to express their opposition to attempts to decouple them from Dagbↄŋ into a different region.These views need to be taken seriously.

The Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council has particularly taken note of the actions of some politicians who have given unrealistic promises to some Chiefs and People of Chereponi District, the realisation of which promises, if attempted, will only go to sow a new dimension of conflict in our already delicate Traditional Area.
It is the belief of the Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council that the reorganisation of the Northern Region can be accomplished without sowing any seeds of conflict if all stakeholders act in good faith.

The movements we are seeing at Chereponi strongly suggest that some politicians are determined to achieve their short-term political goals at the expense of the long-term peace of Northern Ghana.

The Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council is appealing to the Commission on Regional Reorganization that it upholds and respects the wishes of Dagbↄŋ, as reiterated at its recent meeting with members of the Northern Region House of Chiefs.
Lastly, we want to emphasise that the Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council will continue to support the Government’s policy of Regional Reorganization with the hope that it will not lead to the generation of conflict between Traditional Councils in the northern part of the country. Let us remember that peaceful co-existence is the first requirement for national development.
Thank you.
Signed:
Acting President
Dagbↄŋ Traditional Council, Kampakuya Na Andani Abdulai Yakubu.