[ 2017-10-09 ]

New Ya-Naa Will Be My 1st Year’s Crowning Achievement – Akufo-Addo
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, says the best Christmas gift he can
give the people of Yendi and Ghana, this year,
will be the enskinment of a new Ya Naa, ahead of
the celebration of the Damba Festival.

This, according to President Akufo-Addo, will be
the “crowning achievement of my first year as
President of the Republic”, adding that “I am
going to do everything that a President can do to
make sure that we get there.”

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Saturday,
7 October, 2017, when he paid separate courtesy
calls on the Regent of Dagbon, the Kampakuya Naa,
Yakubu Abdulai Andani; and the Bolin Lana,
Mahamadu Abdulai, at Yendi, on day 2 of his 3-day
tour of the Northern Region.

Addressing the issue of the 15-year long impasse
in Dagbon, the President noted that the issue at
play is “how to apply the customs of Dagbon,
with the relevant compromises, to resolve the
issue.”

It is for this reason, President Akufo-Addo
recounted the role played by the former President
of the Republic, “the wise statesman”, His
Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, in setting up the
Committee of Eminent Chiefs, who are
“responsible for fashioning out an acceptable
formula for the resolution of the crisis.”

The Eminent Chiefs selected by former President
Kufuor, in the view of President Akufo-Addo,
“are amongst the greatest Chiefs in our
country”.

They are the overlord of Mamprugu, the Nayiri, Naa
Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga; the overlord of
Gonjaland, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I; and
the Chairman of the Committee, who, according to
President Akufo-Addo, has been doing a yeoman’s
job, and is no less a person than the Asantehene,
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

“Whatever formula, whatever understanding they
come to, amongst the parties to the Dagbon
conflict, will have the full, unequivocal support
of my government. I want to reassure you that I
don’t have an interest in the outcome of the
accommodation,” the President said.

He continued, “I want to repeat, I am not an
Andani, and I am not an Abudu. Not only am I not
an Abudu, nor an Andani, I am not even a Dagomba.
I have no interest, other than the peace and
security of Dagbon.”

To the Kampakuya Naa, President Akufo-Addo assured
that “any officials of mine who are seen to be
impeding the resolution of the matter, according
to custom, will have me to play with.”

He assured further, in response to a request made
by the Imam, who offered the opening prayer at the
Kampakuya Naa’s palace, that “the Regent has
nothing to fear from me. He will be very well
looked after in the process. His father was my
friend, and it will not be right that I do not
treat his son right. He [the late Ya Naa] will not
forgive me.”
By the same token, President Akufo-Addo pleaded
with the Andanis and Abudus to accommodate
whatever missteps that occur, in the process to
find a lasting solution to the problem, stressing
that “if we are committed to the end of the
journey, and there are missteps along the way, we
should find a way to accommodate it, so that we do
not jeopardize it.”

The President, thus, appealed to all involved in
the Dagbon matter to “work together, and ensure
the necessary accommodation and compromises to
bring this 15 year old crisis to a conclusion. The
people of Ghana will see Dagbon for what it is –
a historic state of our nation – and we want to
see it rise again.”

Yendi Water Treatment Plant
With the Yendi water supply system seeing no
upgrades since 1973, President Akufo-Addo stated
that “I am happy to inform you that my
government has secured a credit facility of $30
million from the EXIM Bank of India to be able to
establish a Water Treatment Plant from the Oti
River, to supply Yendi and all the surrounding
towns.”

He indicated that the beginning of the next
quarter of 2018 will witness the completion of the
requisite paper work, and the commencement of the
project.

“In the same way the strengthening of the
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) also
requires that we expand and strengthen the
infrastructure of our healthcare delivery system.
The message you (Kampakuya Naa) have given me, on
the need to expand and strengthen the Yendi
hospital, that message, I am taking it straight
with me to Accra to the Minister for Health,”
President Akufo-Addo added.

He also commended the Kampakuya Naa for supporting
the fight against galamsey, adding that “the
fight against galamsey is a fight for our future
survival.

Source - ultimatefmonline.com

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