Politicians, political parties and governments have not been able to find a permanent solution to the Yendi skin affair and would probably never be able to do so, a lecturer at the Department Of Religion and Human Values, University Of Cape Coast (UCC), Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has said. This is because no matter how well-meaning a government’s intervention is, it will leave one side of the divide bruised, the lecturer explained. The Abudus and Andanis who trace their roots to a common ancestry have been involved in a protracted dispute which has contributed immensely to the underdevelopment of Yendi. According to Mustapha Hamid, also a Director of the Danquah Institute and a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who was speaking during the fifth in the series of the Ferdinand O. Ayim memorial lectures in Accra, the founding of the Dagbon state was borne out of conflict and disagreements. He revealed that “Na Abdulai, from whom the Abudu gate derived its name, ruled from 1837-1858. After him, his brother, Na Andani II, ruled from 1858-1896. These two had a common father, Na Yakubu I, who reigned from 1799-1838. Na Yakubu I ascended to the throne through a military attack that led to the death of the then sitting Ya Na, Ya Na Suman Zoli (1778 to 1799), led by the nephew of Na Yakubu, Yelizoli Lana Lagfu. “Two hundred and three years later in 2002,” he stated, “one of Na Yakubu I’s descendants, Yakubu Andani II, was also killed in a similar communal war, related to the chieftaincy dispute.” It was during this time that the then government, under the leadership of former president John Agyekum Kufour set up the Wuaku Commission to investigate the crisis. As far back as 1899, governments had been involved in the Dagbon skin affair. Mustapha Hamid pointed out that “Dagbon was partitioned in 1899, with Eastern Dagomba going to the Germans and Western Dagomba to the British who actively meddled in the enskinment of chiefs in the Dagbon state. “This perhaps set the tone for the external politicization and interference in Dagbon skin affairs that have bedeviled the struggle for the Yendi skins to date,” the lecturer insisted. The Northern People’s Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and the National Liberation Council (NLC) also played significant roles in resolving the impasse. Mr Hamid said the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) enacted the Yendi Skin Affairs Amendment Law, 1985, PNDC Law 124 which declared that any aggrieved party could seek redress from the law courts. But, genuine as they may be, these efforts by successive governments failed to restore lasting peace in Dagbon. Since the Ya Na’s death in 2002, members of the Andani gate have not relented in their quest for justice. They heaved a sigh of relief when the National Democratic Congress (NDC’s) made it a manifesto promise during the 2008 election “to set up a ‘truly independent’ commission to take a better look at the Yendi affair”. “On coming into government, the concentration of the NDC turned towards arraigning alleged killers of the Ya Na before a criminal court, even abandoning the idea of the commission of inquiry. “They showed little or no interest in any simultaneous pursuit of reconciliation. The arbitration effort of the Asantehene and the two eminent chiefs (instituted by the NPP government) suffered in the process” because “it had been the staunch position of President Mills that there was no point in seeking reconciliation between these brothers, if the one whose trigger caused the death of the Ya Na was not found. “Thus, in the view of the NDC, finding the person(s) who killed the Ya Na is pre-requisite to reconciliation and peace,” Mustapha Hamid claimed adding, “That, there can be no peace and reconciliation without, in effect, criminal justice.” “But, would justice be served if people were jailed irrespective of the evidence or lack thereof?”He quizzed. The NPP stalwart accused the Mills-government of being biased towards the Abudu faction. “Indeed this kind of politics has divided Dagombas into victims and villains, devils and saints, just and unjust. But, in a democracy people don’t go to jail because the President feels frustrated,” he emphasised and insisted that the only way forward for the people of Dagbon was to intensify the process of reconciliation. Story by Dorcas Efe Mensah and Benedicta Anane/myjoyonline.com/Ghana