CALM RETURNS TO BUIPE (BACK PAGE, MAY 18, 2010)

Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale.

CALM has returned to Buipe in the Central Gonja district of
the northern region after a couple of weeks standoff between
the Buipewura, Abdulai Jinapor and the Gonja traditional
council at Damongo.
Following the misunderstanding, the council subsequently
declared its intention to destool the Buipewura for what
they considered as insubordination and gross disrespect to
the council. The decision was reached after an emergency
meeting last Thursday.
However at the time of filing this report, the Buipewura
was still at his palace insisting that he was still the
rightful chief for Buipe and will therefore not abdicate the
skin.
According to the Northern Regional Police Public Relations
Officer, Chief Inspector, Ebenezer Tetteh, the situation at
Buipe was peaceful with people going about their
businesses.
In a statement signed by the Yagbon-wura Tuntunba Boorish
Sulemana Jakpa II and twelve other paramount chiefs of the
Gonja traditional council at Damongo, the chiefs accused the
Buipewura of “gross disrespect for the King of Gonja and
the entire members of the Gonja Traditional Council by
Buipewura Jinapor II Abdulai Mahama.”
According to the statement, on the 3rd day sitting of the
1st Ordinary Meeting of the Gonjaland Traditional Council on
May 13th May, 2010 at Damongo one of the items on the agenda
was the mediation of a case between the Buipewura and
Monowura Akwasi Piesie in which Buipewura arbitrarily
deskinned Monowura for gross disrespect to him.
The Gonja King, together with the other chiefs, appealed to
the Buipewura to rescind his decision to deskin the
Mono-Wura.
But the Buipe-Wura did not heed the advice as he argued
that the Mono-Wura had refused to pay homage to him as
tradition demanded.
The mediation talks turned acrimonious leading into hot
verbal exchanges between the Buipe-Wura and his loyalists on
one hand, and the Yagbon-Wura and the other chiefs and their
supporters on the other.
The Buipewura subsequently cast insinuations at the other
chiefs and allegedly pulled out and fired warning shots.