Savannah Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, Sulemana Iddrisu has appealed to sons and daughters of the region not to turn the infant region into a breeding ground for violence and tension all in the name of attending funerals.

Mr Sulemana said before politics there were Kagbenye (descendants of Ndewura Jakpa), hence partisan politics should not destroy the beautiful bond between them.

It would be recalled that on Sunday, February 25, 2024, there was a scuffle between supporters of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress at the final funeral rites of the late Queen mother of Busunu, Busunuwuriche Azara Seidu at Businu, a suburb of West Gonja in the Savannah Region where security personnel had to fire warning shots to defuse tensions and ensure law and order.

Some high-profile politicians from the two sides, like former President John Dramani Mahama, the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema-Opare, the Member of Parliament of Damongo, Abu Jinapor, and the Savannah Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jebril including some former government appointees were all in attendance at the funeral when the confusion broke out.

In recounting a similar incident between supporters of NPP and NDC during the seventh-day funeral rites of the late Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Sulemana Bore Essa II at Damongo where he (Sulemana Iddrisu) single-handedly intervened and restored peace, he bemoaned such occurrences and appealed for calm and unity among both parties' supporters.

"What do we gain as NPP and NDC supporters? Or is politics superior to Kagbenye; if not, let's revisit the unity and peace of our forefathers. It's shameful and very embarrassing for us to allow others to come in and cause the problems and disappear and our name is smeared with all the negative tags."

Professor Kalamonia maintains, “We have seen how politics has divided and destroyed families in some other regions and we shouldn't allow that to happen to us here because we are Kagbenye" he insisted.

He added that, as a party Chair, he believes in fairness and wouldn't allow any bad blood in the name of politics.

He, however, warned the first National Vice Chairman of the opposition NDC, Sofo Azorka not to repeat the alleged transportation of vigilante boys known as 'Hawks' [Azorka's Boys] in NDC party T-shirts to funeral grounds in the region to create chaos.

He commended the Savannah Regional Chairman of NDC, Seidu Imoro for distancing himself from the incident as a true son of the Kingdom who also believes in fairness.

In recounting the incident at Busunu, Mr Iddrisu Sulemana said, "Assuming you were seated before our team arrived, why were they chasing almost everybody away but allowed Azorka who came with a bus full of people from Tamale? The former president couldn't say a word because his people embarrassed him. And what happened was a total embarrassment to us all", Mr Sulemana Iddrisu lamented.

Alhaji Sulemana Iddrisu further stated that the event which was allegedly turned into a political event by the NDC gave way to the display of such uncalled-for behaviour instead of praying for somebody's, Mother, or sister's departed soul."

Mr Sulemana expressed dismay at seeing how his opponents continue to turn the funerals of high-profile sons and daughters in the region into political campaign platforms.

"As you can see, the NDC party's colours were all over and their leaders were very comfortable watching and smiling. No. Let's learn as people and protect our image as a family", Prof Kalamonia appealed.

He also appealed to the leadership of both sides to put measures in place to curtail any future occurrences in the region.