[ 2011-04-14 ]

Abudus to return to Dagbon peace talks
The Abudu Royal Family of Dagbon has announced it
will return to mediation talks conducted by a
Committee of Eminent Chiefs chaired by the
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The family said it was encouraged by the decision
of President J.E.A. Mills to actively promote the
resumption of the peace talks between them and the
Andanis.

The Abudus at a crunch meeting Thursday, April 14,
2011 rescinded their decision to boycott the
process.

Last year the Abudus withdrew from the peace talks
saying the family had lost confidence in Otumfuo
and his committee as impartial peace brokers,
arguing that while the road-map to peace had
stipulated that they (Abudus) be allowed to use
the Gbewa Palace for the performance of the
funeral rites of the late Ya-Na, Mahamadu Abdulai
- an Abudu overload - who died in the 1989, the
family had been denied access to the palace for
this purpose.

The Spokesperson for the Abudus, Mr Ziblim Iddi,
said “Now what we are simply saying is that at
least for once, the committee should…impress on
the Andanis to see the need why the Abudus should
perform the funeral in the Gbewa palace…”

They family complained the Andanis had violated
the road-map to peace and that Otumfuo and the CEC
had failed to enforce the provisions of the
road-map, vowing to be out of the talks until they
were allowed to perform Na Mahamadu’s funeral in
the Gbewaa Palace.

Following an Accra Fast Track High Court ruling
which freed 15 Abudus charged with the murder of
the Ya-Na Tuesday, March 29, 2011, - evoking angry
protests from the Andanis who accused the
government and the judiciary of giving them a raw
deal by denying them justice - President Mills
said he was frustrated by the judgement but sought
to activate the mediation process in order to
bring lasting peace to Dagbon.

Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, on the
instructions of the president, last weekend
appealed to the Asantehene, to revive the
mediation talks between the Abudu and Andani
factions.

The Andanis welcomed the decision accusing the
Abudus of stalling the talks by pulling out.

The Abudus insisted they needed to meet before
declaring their position on the matter – a
meeting they held Thursday and resolved to return
to the negotiation table.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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