“Chieftaincy contractors” seeking to spark trouble in Dagbon by calling me funeral coordinator – Northern Regional minister

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, has angrily responded to those he labelled as “chieftaincy contractors” and “conflict – preneurs” accusing them of seeking to spark fresh chieftaincy trouble in Dagbon. The highly incensed Minister denounced the allegations as “palpable lies” and threatened to ensure the arrest    and prosecution of those peddling same.

Mr. Saeed, since the restoration of peace in Dagbon, has come under shifting allegations, notably from groups and individuals associated with the Andani Royal family.  He was first accused of using state powers to assist some chiefs within the Abudu royal gate to sidestep the authority of the Ya-Naa Abukari Mahama II, after the Regional Security Council decided to hold back a military intervention in Nanton, where a former chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Zoosali lana Haruna Sulemana Tia, declared himself chief after the people there rejected a candidate chosen by the Dagbon overlord.

The allegations intensified recently after members of the two royal families clashed at Kpatinga in the Gushegu area in which at least two persons died and several properties lost. Only last week, a grandson of the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II, Dr. Mahama Sayibu, led a group of Andani youth to hold a press conference against Mr. Saeed, alleging that the Minister had ask the Yaa Naa to  order the Kpatinga chief to vacate his palace for the Abudus to hold funerals for the late Kpatinga lana. 

It followed similar but a furious news briefing by the warlord of the Tamale chief, who threatened what he called “unprecedented mayhem and chaos” in Dagbon and called on the president, Nana AKufo-Addo to rein in the Regional Minister.    Many people have also taken to social media platform, WhatsApp, to spread the allegations against the Minister.

However, in response, the Regional Minister descended heavily on his accusers, describing them as veiled politicians trying to awaken chieftaincy politics in Dagbon in an election year. 

Addressing the 63rd Independence Anniversary parade in Tamale, last Friday, Mr. Saeed pushed back the allegations and warned that persons who would want to destabilize the peace of Dagbon would immediately be arrested and prosecuted.

  Source: Ghana/Tamale/Zaaradio.com/99.3FM/ Saani Lukman