The King and Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom who is also the president of the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs, Jira Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto Jewu Soale I in a speech read by the registrar of the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs Mr. Abutu Kapori solicits peaceful coexistence between Gonjas and Manpurusis to curb misplaced settlement and lost of properties and lives.
The Overlord said this during a courtesy call on him by the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Stephen Asamoah Boateng at his palace on the 16th of February 2024.
The Yagbonwura said he and his brother Nayiri of Mamprugu needs peace at Lukula in the North Gonja District-Daboya before the sporadic and chieftaincy attacks will not only stir the peace of the area and uncontrollable destruction but is a likely breeding ground for violence extremism and a vulnerable for all manner of insecurity.
HRM Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto therefore called for government machinery intervention for effective collaboration with key stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the Lukula conflict between Gonja and Mamprugu.
The Yagbonwura seized the opportunity to extend a special request to the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs for the creation of additional traditional councils to be created in the Savannah region and that the creation of the councils will enhance governance and administrative work and effective decentralization of the Chieftaincy institutions in the Savanah region.
The Yagbonwura commended the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs for initiating the review process of the Chieftaincy Act 2008, Act 759, and that the initiative is in the right direction because the Act lives to serve humanity on the principle of law, tradition, and sanity of which the Chieftaincy institution will support you in your boundless leadership to achieve your purpose of a minister for that sector.
In a reminder, the Yagbonwura told the minister the biggest legacy of his time is the construction of the Savannah Regional House of Chief office complex and that the Regional House has held meetings under trees and at borrowed premises of which as a president of the House he (Yagbongwura) is making a passionate appeal and a clarion call for pragmatic steps to be taken in the construction of the Office Complex
He said many of the conflict challenges between the kingdoms is the matter of clear boundary issues and the predicaments of the Jantong traditional area, the Bavim Lana of Dagbon is trespassing on his boundaries to the Jantong Dakpemyili of the Gonja and this is also a potential conflict issue which needs immediate corrective action.
The Yagbonwura expressed his sincere gratitude to Hon. Stephen Asamoah Boateng for calling on the chiefs of the Savannah region as part of his working visit, and the Minister for lands and natural resources and MP for the Damongo Constituency – Lawyer Samuel Abu Jinapor.
In his speech, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon Stephen Asamoah Boateng said he has come to acknowledge the role the Yagbon plays in and beyond his Kingdom by way of collaborating with other chiefs in settling disputes and indeed he (Hon. Minister) remember instances where he brought issues before the Yagbonwura and he addressed them.
Hon. Stephen expressed his sadness over the Lukula conflict banter in the North Gonja District between the Mumprusis and the Gonjas and said even though the conflict not permanently solved but temporal intervention has been put in place to bring a lasting solution to tha matter.
The Minister for Chieftaincy added that it is very critical to uphold the dignity and give chiefs extra responsibilities in the law and that is the reason they are putting together the amendment of the Chieftaincy Act and the power of the chief to call other chiefs and any person residing in the area to help solve conflicts.
In his response to the Yagbonwura’s reminder of the construction of the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs office complex the minister said the money for the construction has been released by the ministry of finance and the contract has been awarded and so very soon the constructor will come to the site.
The Savannah regional minister, Hon. Saeed Muhazu Jibril told the media and the youth to stop reporting on issues about the Gonja kingdom that will retard development and that the land territory for the kingdom serves several purposes and there is a need for stakeholders to protect and conserve it.
In attendance was the West Gonja Municipal Chief Executive – Hon. Musah Karim Kusubari, the Gonja Kingdom Paramount chiefs, Queen mothers, and others.
Story By: Musah Abdul Fatawu Carozy
