Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says he still has sleepless nights over the murder of the overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, almost a decade after the tragic event. The Ya Na lost his life in 2002 when Mr. Kufuor was President.
His government was blamed for not doing much to prevent the death as well as apprehend those who masterminded the incident. Mr. Kufuor, who described the late King as a personal friend, regretted the incident and bemoaned how politicians took advantage of the situation.
He chronicled efforts his administration made to apprehend the perpetrators of the crime and advised politicians to desist from raking the wounds of the people of Dagbon by politicizing the subject of the Ya Na’s death.
The former President Kufuor told listeners of Citi FM’s partner station Diamond FM in Tamale, “I have had sleepless nights right from the time the sad thing happened because Ya Na was a personal friend.
"This thing was capitalized on and exploited so massively politically. I am praying that the people of Dagbon would come to know the truth because the truth would make all of us free and happy.
"It is a very sad thing that a great people should be subjected to so much vile propaganda for political gain. Who has been the beneficiary of the misfortune? Is it NPP or NDC?
"People forget what happened the time preceding what occurred, I have personal misgivings and suspicions about what happened but I trust that with Gods’ help one day the truth would come out”.
Mohammed Ibn Abdella, who conducted the interview, asked the former President what he thought about how long it has taken to prosecute even one person in relation to the Ya Na’s murder but Mr. Kufuor maintained “government, using the rule of law took all the necessary steps. For one, we set up the Wuaku Commission, the composition of the commission I believe was carefully done and then we also begged the prominent chiefs to set up a body to see to the traditional aspects because the problem had many facets-social, legal, traditional, a whole lot of facets.
"Government quickly put together these institutions, tried for us to get to the centre of the problem to find solutions but all the efforts of government was pushed aside and made to seem irrelevant”.
Asked who pushed them aside as he (Mr. Kufuor) said, he only answered “you are in Tamale, you should know, the propaganda that went on and yet they liked every effort that government was trying to put in……
“The eminent chiefs were trying to get some solutions so we could put things back together in order to take off positively; I want a genuine and lasting solution for Dagbon. “The way forward” according to former President Kufuor “is for all Ghanaians and especially the people of Dagbon” to ignore the propaganda “and seek the truth, not what people would come and shout and yell on.
"Dagbon has been overtaken by sad events once, the Dagbon-Konkomba war, how did it begin? How many people got killed? How many villages were destroyed? “We must get away from those things especially Dagbon people, we should resist anybody trying to exploit the situation for their political gains. If you know the truth, come out boldly and tell us… “I know eventually the truth would come out”.
Former President Kufuor acknowledged that some international bodies have aided in finding a solution to the Dagbon crisis.
He said, “I know of some international bodies like the UNDP who were involved in trying to help put back some peaceful coexistence between the families, they were working quietly but they were helping”.
Source: citifmonline.com
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