UNEASY CALM IN GHANA'S DAGBON CONFLICT

UNCLAS ACCRA 001037

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: GH PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: UNEASY CALM IN GHANA'S DAGBON CONFLICT

REF: ACCRA 1072


1. (SBU) Summary: An uneasy calm remains over Ghana,s
conflict-prone Northern Region. Last April, the two arguing
claimants to the Dagbon chieftaincy agreed to bury their
chief (Ya-Na) who was murdered in 2002. However, the next
step to selecting a new chief -- the Ya-Na's funeral --
remains on hold. The Catholic Bishop of Yendi, who has
assumed a peacemaker role, told Poloff during his recent trip
to the region that entrenched interests, cynicism, and the
lack of justice in the murdered chief,s case are behind the
delay. The Bishop feels that the potential for violence is
low at the moment, but added that one of his biggest fears is
that a small, isolated incident could spur larger unrest.
End summary.


2. (SBU) During Poloff's recent visit to Ghana,s Northern
Region, a variety of contacts said that the North remains in
a state of "uneasy calm" after the 2002 murder and
dismemberment of the Ya-Na (the King of the Dagbon
traditional area). In April 2006, Andanis and Abudus, the two
competing "gates" (lines of succession) of the Dagbon tribe,
agreed after extensive negotiation to bury the Ya-Na, who had
been in a morgue for four years. While the burial brought
hope for more lasting peace in the region, the past year has
been marked by wrangling over the funeral, which is the next
step toward selecting a new chief.


3. (SBU) Bishop Boi Nai, the Bishop of Yendi, told poloff
that he has been traveling regularly across the Northern
Region in an attempt to reach a resolution amenable to both
gates, but has had little success. Boi Nai listed several
reasons for the delay in the funeral. The first, he said, is
a lack of justice. Andanis claim that the funeral cannot be
held until the individuals involved in the Ya-Na,s
assassination are brought to justice. To the Bishop, however,
that is a political question unlikely to be resolved anytime
soon, if ever. He has been focusing on persuading the
parties to have the funeral and get justice later.


4. (SBU) Another issue that may be delaying the funeral is
the fact that the individual next in line to be the chief is
75 years old and in poor health, according to the Bishop. If
this man took over, he could pass away soon, meaning that the
entire process of determining the chieftaincy would have to
be repeated. Boi Nai also named entrenched interests as
another factor. He said that a mini industry of power
brokers and peacemakers has developed who benefit financially
and personally from the stalemate. These so-called
peacemakers would lose their prestige if a settlement were
reached, he opined.


5. (SBU) Two potential bright spots for resolving the issue,
according to the Bishop, are a Peace Committee and the group
of "Eminent Chiefs," made up of prominent Ghanaian chiefs,
including the Asantehene, the traditional leader of the
Ashantis. The Bishop said that the Peace Committee, which
consists of six core members from each side and 15 observers,
has helped broker dialogue. The Regional Minister for the
Northern Region, Boniface Abubakar, told us separately that
he is considering taking the relevant parties to the conflict
to Mole, a small town south of Tamale, and locking them in a
room until a solution is reached.


6. (SBU) The Bishop stressed that a solution needed to be
reached soon. He characterized the young people of the North
as distrustful of their elders and claimed that they could
resort to violence at some point. These young people have
little to do with their time, according to the Bishop, and
the perceived instability of the region caused by the
internecine disagreements continues to drive away potential
investors, further exacerbating economic problems. One of the
Bishop,s great fears is that a small altercation could grow
into something bigger.


7. (SBU) Comment: The Bishop is impressive and is seen by
nearly everyone in the North as an honest broker. His
Christianity and origins in Accra add to his stature in this
predominantly Muslim area since he does not appear to have
any direct interest other than obtaining peace. While the
north is currently at peace, there is always the potential
for violence, made more likely by the year-long stalemate
over the Ya-Na's funeral.
BRIDGEWATER