DAMBA FESTIVAL WILL BE PEACEFUL (PAGE 3)

THE Northern Regional Police Command has given the assurance that the celebration of this year’s Damba Festival by the chiefs and people of Dagbon will be peaceful and incident-free.
It said adequate security was in place for the peaceful celebration of the festival, which takes place on Sunday and Monday.
The command, however, appealed to the people to duly co-operate with the security forces and ensure that the time- tested festival was celebrated without any breach of the prevailing peace in the region.
“At the moment there is no breach of security in the area. Security operatives have been stationed at various hot spots in the region to ensure the successful celebration of the festival,” the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Northern Region, Mr Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabour, stated in an interview.
According to him, both Yendi and Tamale were calm as preparations got underway for the celebration of the festival.
For his part, the Chief of Tamale, Dakpema Alhassan Dawuni, also indicated that all was set for a successful festival. According to his secretary, Alhassan Basharu Daballi, “coming a couple of months after his successful enskinment, the Dakpema and his subjects want to celebrate this year’s festival in a grand style”.
Mr Daballi, therefore, extended invitation to all well-meaning Ghanaians and tourists to come and join the people to mark the Damba in a unique way.
Customary and traditional rites for the festival began last Sunday.
The festival, which is a merger between Islam and tradition, is celebrated by majority of the Muslim-dominated communities in the north and largely by Dagombas.
It is said to mark the birth and subsequent ‘‘outdooring’’ of the Prophet Muhammad, the Founder of Islam. It is used to offer sacrifices to show appreciation to Allah and also chart a new course for the coming year.
The celebration of the festival has always generated some controversy in Yendi, the traditional seat of Dagbon, between the two chieftaincy gates, the Andani and the Abudu.
While the Andanis insist that the only traditional authority permitted by custom to perform the festival in Yendi is the Ya-Na, or in his absence his Regent, the Abudus contend that they have every right to also observe the ceremony under the leadership of the Bolin-Lana, the eldest son of the late Ya-Na Mahamadu Abdulai.
It was such deep-rooted mistrust and misunderstanding between the two royal gates that later degenerated into the bloody events culminating in the murder of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II and some of his elders in Yendi on March 27, 2002.
After the incident, all traditional and customary practices in the Dagbon Kingdom were put on hold. They were lifted only in April 2006 after the remains of the late King had been finally interred and his first son, Kampakuya-Na Abdulai Yakubu Andani, enskinned as the Regent of Dagbon.
The Regent, however, declined to celebrate the festival in April 2007 as a result of a similar controversy between the two gates that could have disturbed the peace there.
The rest of Dagbon, however, celebrated the festival peacefully that year and in 2008.