A former presidential spokesperson under the John Kufuor administration, Andrew Awuni, has said the roadmap to peace in Dagbon should be made public. He said since only few persons – representatives of the Abudus and Andanis engaged in the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute - are privy to the process agreed by both factions, it is difficult for the public to actually tell which side is breaching the agreement at a point in time. Mr Awuni, who is also the Executive Director of a local think tank, Centre for Freedom and Accuracy, told Joy News on Monday that his suggestion would “inject transparency in the whole process to serve as a check on either side in how they perform as we go along the implementation of the roadmap”. The Abudus and the Andanis have been involved in a protracted chieftaincy dispute which culminated in the death of the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, the Overlord of Dagbon, and several of his elders on 27th March 2002. A Committee of Eminent Chiefs chaired by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II was set up by former President J. A. Kufuor in 2003 to oversee the traditional aspects of finding lasting peace to Dagbon. However, the Abudu faction withdrew from the peace talks in early 2010 citing persistent bad faith on the part of the committee and the uncompromising stance of the Andanis. “The Eminent Kings have demonstrated by the flip-flop on their position on such a crucial and sensitive issue in the Dagbon conflict that they have a credibility problem. The Abudu Royal Family no longer believes that the Eminent Kings have the moral clarity to be honest brokers in the conflict,” Dagbon.net, a website committed to the cause of Dagbon, quoted a press statement by the Abudus in May 2008. However, Vice-President John Mahama, on the instructions of President Mills, over the weekend, appealed to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to revive mediation talks between the Abudu and Andani factions. But Mr Awuni believes the withdrawal and counter accusations of breach of trust from both gates could have been forestalled had the decision of the committee as agreed upon by the two sides been made public. He acknowledged that even though such an action should have been taken right from the onset, it is not too late to start it. “If there are benchmarks, benchmarks A,B,C,D, this is what we are supposed to do, after this, we are supposed to do that, and that is published and the public is aware, not just the Ghanaian public, but also the followers and supporters of both sides - the Andanis and Abudus - …then all of us would know who is following it religiously, and who is deliberately distorting the facts.” Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana