Is Yaa Naa Andani alive or dead?
Mahama Iddrisu to run for NDC Chairman
Report on proposed health insurance scheme for teachers
Tamale (Northern Region) 28 March 2002- There are conflicting reports that Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani is still alive and not dead as announced by the Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey.
The Ghana News Agency reports counsel for the Andani gate in the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama as confirming that the Yaa Naa is alive but declined to disclose his whereabouts. He said the person who was beheaded at the palace was not the Yaa Naa, but a mistaken identity by the mercenaries hired to kill him.
Several residents of Tamale on hearing the news that the Yaa Naa was still alive defied the curfew and trooped to Alhaji Mahama's house to have first hand information about the Yaa Naa.
Meanwhile, the Dagomba community in Accra has expressed anger and grief at the murder of the Ya-Na, Yakubu Andani II, and vowed to use every legal means to get to the bottom of the matter.
It described the incident as most barbaric and said it is unfortunate that at this stage of the country’s history, particularly in this democratic dispensation, such savage and cowardly acts should be carried out against the Overlord of the Dagbon area.
Dr Yahuza Gomda, a nephew of Ya-Na, who spoke on behalf of the community, at a meeting at Accra New Town, said, “The Killing of the Ya-Na will not end the story. What we fear is ripple effects of the callous act.”
He said, for instance, Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, is an extension of Yendi, and events in Yendi have catastrophic spillovers in Tamale and the entire Dagbon area. Speaking amidst tears, Dr Gomda said the Dagomba community is even more disturbed about the handling of the situation by the authorities. “We saw the warning signals and drew their attention, but we were told that all was calm at Yendi.
“Then the telephone lines and all other means of communications in the area failed, while a curfew was imposed. “Suddenly, we are told that the Ya-Na has been killed,” he said.
He recalled similar attack on the chief’s palace, on September 9, 1969, when personnel of the security agencies shot and killed 69 people in the palace, saying the old wounds have been raked again. “Now, they have finally done what they couldn’t do 32 years ago,” Dr Gomda added. He, however, appealed to Dagombas at home and abroad to remain calm.
In another development, the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has expressed shock and dismay at the murder of Ya-Na, Yakubu Andani II and appealed to the government to intensify the deployment of security personnel to maintain law and order.
In a press release issued in Accra on Wednesday, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin called on other traditional rulers to join him to condemn the act. It also appealed to all factions to lay down their weapons immediately to enable peace and calm to be restored to the area.
The statement also urged all factions to ensure the safety and security of all women and children who always bear the brunt of such conflicts. It urged all Ghanaians to treat the incident as a national tragedy because “Ghana is a nation of families.”
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President declares State of emergency
Dagbon
President John Agyekum Kuffuor, has declared a state of emergency in the Dagbon areas of the Northern Region, with immediate effect following reports of the tragic death of the Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, paramount chief of Dagbon Traditional Area, and many others in a chieftaincy conflict.
A statement issued from the Office of the President on Wednesday, signed by Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential affairs, said that President Kufuor had imposed a dusk to dawn curfew across the entire Dagbon area of the Northern Region.
It said that the security services had been empowered to stop the assembly of any groups and to disperse any and all groups that they deemed to be a threat to public order. "Any person caught fomenting unrest or advocating violence in any way will be severely dealt with.
"The Army Commander and the Northern Sector Commander are in the region to further assess the situation", it said adding that Police and army reinforcement were also being moved to the region.
The government, however, gave an assurance that all those responsible for the bloodshed would be brought to book and dealt with in accordance with the law. It called on all religious and social leaders in the area and in Dagbon communities outside the area to be calm and to calm their people.
The government further asked the media to show the fullest restraint and avoid any inflammatory reporting that could further inflame the situation. The tragedy occurred in a chieftaincy dispute that re-ignited four days ago in Yendi, Northern Region.
Meanwhile, in Tamale, Alhaji Abdulai Ziblim, regent of Tamale, has warned of a devastating spillover of the Yendi chieftaincy conflict to Tamale and the entire Dagbon, reports Garba Ibrahim. Alhaji Ziblim was speaking at a highly charged news conference in Tamale yesterday afternoon.
He called for the immediate resignation of Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, Minister of the Interior, Mr Ahmed Tijani, the Yendi Chief Executive, whom he said had long planned to eliminate the Ya-Na and the Fire festival was used as an excuse.
He questioned why the Minister of the Interior kept on denying that Yendi was clam whereas the people were killing themselves. Alhaji Ziblim also wondered how telecommunication between Yendi and all parts of the country could cease in those particular days.
He said information he gathered indicated that armed bandits were recruited from Diari and Bawku to help execute the action, describing the situation as sad and a disregard for the laws of the country since the Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II accession to the Skin was by a Supreme Court ruling in 1978. - Ghanaian Times
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Tamale (Northern Region) 28 March 2002 - The Andani Gate in the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute has called for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Alhaji Malik Al-Hassan Yakubu and the dismissal of the Yendi District Chief Executive, Mr Mohammud Habibu Tijani for their roles in the recent Dagbon chieftaincy crisis.
The Andani Gate has also called for the arrest and detention of Alhaji Aminu Amadu, an Accra-based businessman. It alleged that the three were the brains behind the recent Dagbon chieftaincy conflict between the Andani and Abudu Gates, in which Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, Paramount Chief of Dagomba Traditional Area, and several people have been killed.
Speaking at a press conference in Tamale the regent of Tamale, Alhaji Abdulai Ziblim, who is also the representative of the Ya-Na, said Alhaji Yakubu, Mr Tijani and Alhaji Amadu had an agenda "to eliminate the Ya-Na by all means possible."
He accused the Minister of complicity in severing all communication links to Yendi adding; "behind the facade of the so-called curfew, armed bandits from Bawku and Diare were being transported to Yendi to accomplish their diabolical agenda."
Alhaji Ziblim said the Abudu faction with the support of the armed bandits besieged the Ya-Na's palace armed with sophisticated weapons, shooting indiscriminately throughout the night. He said the casualty figures were much higher than the official figures and declared; "all official announcements on the situation in Yendi are lies".
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2008 - Ms Elizabeth Ohene, a Minister of State, on Wednesday described the death of Ya Naa Yakubu Andani II, Paramount Chief of Dagbon Traditional Area, as a tragedy that has befallen the country.
"This is a very devastating incident. The Ya Naa was a very prominent chief," she told journalists in Accra during a press briefing. She said President John Agyekum Kufuor had ordered a proper investigation into the incident and cautioned journalists not to bring in partisan sentiments into the tragedy.
"This is a situation that can consume us. Let us help the people of Yendi contain it. It is a tragedy for Yendi. It is a tragedy for all of us. "We can make it an even greater tragedy by stoking it." Ms Ohene said she did not have casualty figures, but added that the police and military reinforcements had been sent to the area.
President Kufuor has declared a state of emergency in the Dagbon areas of the Northern Region with immediate effect following the tragic death of the Ya-Na and many others in a chieftaincy conflict.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, a former Minister of Defence on Wednesday announced his intention to contest for the position of Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the party's fifth national delegates congress scheduled for later this year.
"I wish to formally announce my intention to contest for the position of Chairman of the Party. To this end, I have today collected nomination forms for completion," Alhaji Iddrisu said in a statement.
This followed a notice by the NDC General Secretary on the opening of nominations for various positions on the National Executive Committee of the party. Alhaji Iddrisu said although the current NDC constitution provided for a co-chairmanship, there was a proposal for a constitutional amendment at the congress to provide for only one Chairman.
"In whatever form the constitution emerges at Congress, I intend to contest for the Chairmanship," the close associate of ex-president Jerry John Rawlings stressed in his statement.
According to him although the NDC party had largely succeeded in its struggle to uphold the principles against oppression, the lack of accountability, inequality, underdevelopment, hunger and deprivation and want to make the country regain her position in the comity of nations and also to make it a place worth living, the impression was being created that the party had done nothing at all.
"But since our electoral defeat, largely through the power of effective propaganda, the impression has been created that we did nothing as a party and as a government," he said and added that this process had succeeded in lowering the national psyche and morale to such extent that people thought that the country was not worth dying for.
This propaganda, Alhaji Iddrisu said, seemed to have permeated the NDC party and instead of fighting against divisive external factors, much energy was being dissipated on unnecessary personal wrangling, resulting in low morale among the rank and file of the party.
"Our Party is at a crossroads, and we need to rekindle the vision that gave birth to it," he said, adding, however, that there was the urgent need to reorganise if "our dream is to become a reality."
"And I believe I have what it takes to successfully put the problems of the party behind us, to reconcile the personalities within, to overcome the bitterness of our 2000 electoral defeat, and to re-energise to emerge victorious in the 2004 elections," he said.
Alhaji Iddrisu urged the media to be fair and objective in their reportage of activities of the individual candidates and contestants as the campaign for the various positions intensified and also appealed to the candidates to address issues confronting the party rather than attack personalities and positions of opposing candidates. "This will ensure that notwithstanding who wins any of the contested offices, our party will emerge from these elections more united than ever before," he added.
GRi…/
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Brong Ahafo NDC issues communiqué on
layoffs
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 28 March 2002 - Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Brong Ahafo Region have expressed concern about the way NPP government was laying off workers and replacing them with NPP operatives.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a meeting between the regional executives of the party and the leadership of the cadres of the 31st December Revolution in the southern and western parts of the region in Sunyani.
The communiqué, signed by Alhaji Kwadwo Mama Adam, NDC regional chairman, assessed the present democratic political dispensation in the country and advised the government to reconsider its decision to pay only two months salary in lieu of severance to the laid off staff of the National Mobilization Programme (NMP), irrespective of the number of years served.
''The government should pay off the affected workers in accordance with laid down labour regulations'', the communique noted. The communiqué, agreed with the government for procuring 100 Peugeot 306 saloon cars to resource the Ghana Police Service to enable the service to function effectively, but condemned it for spending 13 million dollars for that purpose without rooting it through Parliament.
''One peugeot 306 at 130,000 dollars or 980 million cedis is too expensive and we demand a thorough investigations into its purchase'', it stated. The communiqué urged the government to make public the conditionalities attached to Ghana's acceptance of the HIPC to enable Ghanaians to "prepare adequately for what is to come". It commended the NDC minority members in parliament for working so hard at exposing the failures of the NPP government and keeping them on their toes.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - A British Naval ship, HMS Newcastle, would visit Tema from April 4-8, according to a statement from the British High Commission on Wednesday.
It said as the Royal Navy ship designated for South Atlantic patrol, HMS Newcastle provided a tangible UK maritime presence in the South Atlantic whilst also providing a presence in West Africa in support of UN and UK interests.
This would be her first trip to Tema, since relieving HMS Montrose, who visited Takoradi in November 2001. The statement said the purpose of the visit was to reinforce ties between the UK and Ghana.
While in Tema the Captain, Commander Steve Pearson, would pay a visit to the Flag Officer in Command Eastern Naval Command, Commodore A.R.S. Nunoo. The ship's sports teams also hope to compete in a number of fixtures with local football and rugby teams.
HMS Newcastle was commissioned in 1978, and is a type 42 Destroyer.HMS Newcastle completes her role of Atlantic Patrol Task (South) in September 2002 and would be replaced by another Royal Navy unit.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - A committee set up by the Ministry of Education to work out modalities for the establishment of a health insurance scheme for the staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) on Wednesday proposed that both employees and employers should contribute to the scheme and proceeds should be invested in a fund to be managed by a board of directors.
Mrs Irene Adanosa, General-Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers and chairperson of the committee, said proceeds from the investment would be used to pay for the medical bills of the staff and it would cover a staff, his or her spouse and four children, aged 18 and below.
The General-Secretary, who throwing more light on some of the proposals contained in a report presented to the Education Minister, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi in Accra, said under the proposals some chronic conditions or illnesses of the over 200,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of the GES would not be covered.
She explained that both in- and out-patients using public health facilities and mission hospitals in rural areas would be covered. Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi thanked the committee for the work done and promised that the proposals would be studied with all seriousness in order to take the necessary action for implementation.
He told the committee to help in educating the staff of GES to ensure a smooth take-off the scheme when it was implemented, adding that most insurance schemes were fraught with deals, which hindered their implementation. The Minister said a national health insurance scheme could best be handled if it was done on a small-scale among identifiable groups like the GES.
GRi../
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