The Wala Traditional Council on behalf of the people of Wa and the Muslim Ummah has rendered an unqualified apology to the Vice President, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia for the rejection of his funeral donation by the family of the late Wa Imam, Dr Suleman Mahama Haroon Bakuri.

According to them, “the grounds on which the family under reference took the decision to reject your generous and well-intended donation to the said funeral is alien to the customs and traditions of the Wala people, and, therefore, most unfortunate.”

The head and council of elders of the family of the late Jaamii Imam of Wa had turned down a ¢20,000 funeral donation from Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, with the reason that the intended purpose of the money had already been served.

“We the elders of the family wish to state that, the donation though well-intentioned is belated as the final funeral rites have already been performed,” a statement from the council said.

The family also raised concerns over the failure of the Vice President to attend any of the funeral rites of the deceased, though he paid a visit to Wa in September.

“Besides, the Vice President never showed up in person to mourn with the family when he paid a visit to the region on September 7, 2020,” they said.

The donation had also been done through the New Patriotic Party’s Wa Central Constituency Chairman in the absence of the Vice President.

The family said that was unethical.

However, the Wala Traditional Council says the family’s stance on the issue was unfortunate, as it came at a time where what “we should have been doing as a people was to thank you so much for your recent visits to the Wala Traditional area in particular and the Upper West Region in general.”

The Council has therefore assured the Vice President that steps will be taken to ensure that such a scenario never repeats itself.