By Lydia Kukua Asamoah, GNA
Accra, Feb 21, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that his decision to hold the celebration of Independence Day in Tamale would help to reinforce and support the reconciliation process and restore peace in Dagbon.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo said it would be the first time that Ghana would mark the day outside the national capital of Accra.
“I am, very much, looking forward to it” he said.
The President recounted with much nostalgia, the installation of Ya-Na Mahama Abukari II as the overlord of Dagbon in Yendi a month ago, that brought to an end decade of feuding that negatively affected the proud and ancient kingdom of Dagbon.
He recollected that the thousands of compatriots who were there to share in the joy of the occasion were ample evidence of the satisfaction of the people who hitherto were despaired.
“It was a happy day, and it marked the climax of a long, tortuous journey, and a hard grind on the part of many people through the years” the President said.
He said when he became the President some two years ago, he decided to summon all the resources of the state and his own energies to make a concerted effort through the dedicated, patriotic Committee of Eminent Chiefs that were working on the problem for the past 17 years, to find an acceptable solution.
“With the blessings of the Almighty, we have had a breakthrough, and this led to the month-long series of events that climaxed in the installation on 25th January, 2019.
The President said he was not looking to be accorded any special title or accolade, and “I was certainly not looking for praise.
“I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure that this long running sore, that was such a blight on Dagbon and Ghana, and which dragged down the development process in our country, could be resolved, so that we could move on.
“We had spent enough emotional stress, enough time, enough energy and enough money on the Dagbon dispute; I wanted that amount of emotion, that time, that energy and that money to be spent on making Dagbon and Ghana prosperous.
“I am grateful for the hard work and wisdom of the eminent chiefs, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, the Nayiri, Naa Bohugu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga, Overlord of Mamprugu, and the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa Sulemana Jakpa, Overlord of the Gonja State, all of whom I salute, and for the support of many people in this House on both sides.
“And I pray that we all continue to build on this achievement and midwife the process until peace becomes part of the fabric of Dagbon.
President Akufo-Addo announced that the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs would use the momentum of the Dagbon settlement to tackle the other protracted chieftaincy disputes in the country, hopefully, for resolution.
GNA
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