NO GUNSHOTS IN BUIPE (SPREAD, MAY 28, 2010)

THE Northern Regional Police Command has denied reports that tension in Buipe had led to gunshots in the area.
According to the Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Ebenezer Tetteh, the situation at Buipe at the moment was calm.
There had been a long-standing disagreement between the Buipewura and some members of the traditional council, leading to threats and counter-threats from both sides. The chief had often complained of lack of respect for his authority by some council members.
At the first ordinary meeting of the council at Damongo on May 13, 2010, an attempt was made to mediate a case between the Buipewura and one of his alleged antagonists, Monowura Akwasi Piesie, who the former claimed to have deskinned for gross disrespect to his skin.
The mediation talks, however, turned acrimonious leading to heated verbal exchanges between the Buipeura and his loyalists on one side and the Yagbonwura and the other chiefs and their supporters on the other.
The Buipewura was alleged to have subsequently pulled out a gun and fired warning shots, a charge the Buipewura has since denied.
Following this development, the council declared its intention to destool the Buipewura for what they considered as insubordination and gross disrespect to the council members.
In a statement signed by the Yagbonwura, Tuntunba Boorish Sulemana Jakpa II, and 12 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”.