The Minister for Defense, Dominic Nitiwul has assured the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Abukari II of the government’s resolve to search for the faceless individuals hiding under the cover of social media to incite violence between Dagombas and Konkombas in the northern region.
The Minister said the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has been tasked to investigate and fish out those unscrupulous persons to face the laws of Ghana. He noted neither the people of Dagbon nor Konkombas want to go for war in this 21st century and assured the Akufo-Addo administration will take all necessary steps to consolidate the existing peace and unity in the area and the nation as a whole.
“We want the media to tell our story that we will go after those warmongers, wherever they’re and fish them out. The government has given the IGP the order to fish out all those mongering the war and the conflict – going on social media [Facebook] and wherever they find themselves and arrest them one by one and prosecute them” he stated strongly.
“Some unguided, unscrupulous, misguided, untamed and uncultured young men decided that they will go on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to record – I have over 30 of such recordings, saying that they will create confusion between Konkombas, Nanumbas and Dagombas in 21st century?
Originally, we thought as a government that this was just some Facebook thing but today as we progressed over the past two or three days, we realized this was more serious than we thought and I’m happy the Overlord himself has asserted to that.”
A high powered government delegation led by the Defense Minister, Security Chiefs, Members of Parliament from both governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of Konkomba and Dagomba extractions in the northern region and some Municipal and District Chief Executives were part of the entourage that paid a courtesy call on the Ya Na on Tuesday (November 9, 2021) at the Gbewa palace in Yendi.
The Minister who is also the Member of Parliament for Bimbila in his submission indicated the government was however elated with the continuous support coming from the Dagbon King on matters of security and peace building in the area.
Mr Dominic Nitiwul therefore challenged the general public to assist the state security agencies with relevant information to apprehend the persons creating fear and panic in the society.
“…I want to state that Konkombas, Nanumbas and Dagombas do not want any war and there will never be any war here; there will never be any conflict in the northern region and I can assure you my lord”
He further admonished the traditional and opinion leaders not to interfere in the process of investigations when the laws of Ghana begin to catch up with these recalcitrant persons using the social media to perpetuate crime.
“We want you to help us identify them, you live with them, identify all those who are sitting cowardly in their rooms and making tapes and say that there will be conflict – help us to arrest them” he appealed.
He recounted the consequential effects of the 1994 Dagomba/Konkomba conflict, asserting that, “We didn’t do that in 1994 but look at what happened to us then; I was a student in Tamale, I schooled at St Charles before I went to Batco, I suffered it; I don’t want my children or any of my relatives or anybody’s child to suffer what I did.”
For his part, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Interior and Defense Committee, James Agalga, on behalf of the Minority Leader said the peace and unity of Dagbon and the north is off paramount to everybody in the country and therefore there is no distinction between the NPP and NDC when it comes to such matters.
“We have accompanied the Defense Minister to underscore one point, that we have become privy to some information that is making rounds on social media such Facebook, WhatsApp, about an imminent war between Dagombas and Konkombas but a quick cursory investigation will show that those who are instigating that kind of propaganda are the enemies of both the Dagomba people and the konkombas” he posited.
The Builsa North lawmaker stated there is no truth whatsoever in the allegations that are being bandit about on the digital media space and maintained that without peace and tranquility there cannot be development in the country.
The Deputy Majority Chief Whip and MP for Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, noted part of the mandate of the legislators is to assist the chiefs to maintain peace and unity within their respective jurisdictions and assured the Ya Naa of their full support to address the imminent violence in the area and allow the process of development continue unabated.
“As MPs from Dagbon and the Konkomba community we met with the Defense Minister to intervene in this matter to curtail any unforeseen instance of conflict to derail the peace and cohesion in the region and that is why we decided to visit today to assure you of our unwavering support to find an amicable solution to the situation at hand” he said.
He stated there can never a victor or vanquish when conflict arises but rather everybody will suffer the consequence of it and the community will lack the needed development.
