palace must be built by Dagombas and not the government
Let me start this article by congratulating all Dagbon men and women, the chiefs, princes and princesses for the success achieved. Indeed, we can now walk with our chest up; and we can now tell stories about our kingdom with our Lion King. Our generation is one of the luckiest – for we have a king every side of the divide can run to; a king who is accepted by all and is for all. This is a glory we cannot stop celebrating.
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I also want to thank the Committee of Eminent Chiefs (CEC) for their commitment to the road-map that led us here. Indeed, their wisdom and love for peace contributed seriously to where Dagbon is today. May God add them wisdom, good health and long lives to keep sharing your love with all Ghanaians. When I spoke to one government executive, I asked that they should consider submitting the names of these three great kings for consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize. They have to some extent, solved a problem that crippled the progress of Dagbon for more the four decades!
To our King, may Allah guide you to bring everyone on board for the development of Dagbon. May Allah give you the wisdom, patience and heart to manage Dagbon. The enthusiasm the Kingdom exhibited during the selection and final coronation are signs that we are poised for unity, peace, progress and development. We shall move solidly behind you to move our Kingdom forward; and register its name among the respected kingdoms – both home and abroad.
To the president of the republic, thank you very much for gathering the political courage and will to get Dagbon where it is today. We all know and have watched a video of the Asantehene making it clear that you did not direct any of the activities embedded in the road-map; but your ability to wave any fears of name calling, criticism and even political backlash, make you a decisive leader who will go all lengths to see to the peaceful co – existence of the people
week I came out calling on all Dagbon people to let us join hands and construct a befitting palace for our newly en-skinned King and all subsequent Yaa Naas to follow. My call was necessitated by several reasons – including health, security, convenience and respect for customs.
Firstly, I will not be surprise if one is able to fetch animal droppings right at the doors of the current palace – and one risks helping international visitors to clean off animal droppings from their shoes if care is not taken during a visit to the Gbewaa Palace. It is an open space where animals can roam and anybody who deems it fit can enter. Until the happenings in 2002, there was no security post at the palace, meaning anyone at all could walk into the palace without restrictions.
As powerful as our king is, there should be some form of protection for him. If his palace has nothing at all, it should not be an open space for animals and uninvited guests to hold their own vigils. People going into the palace must go through some checks and be confirmed as clean visitors. Unlike some of us, not everyone can and must be with the King at their own convenience. It is true that he is for all and must be available for all; but while fulfilling this, we must also understand that he is human; not just an ordinary man, but a man occupying a position that others want to occupy. Princes eye the throne like politicians eye the throne of the president. Given that people can do anything to sit where a Dagbon King is sitting, we must do all to protect any King on the throne.
Now back to business! Last week I came out calling on all Dagbon people to let us join hands and construct a befitting palace for our newly en-skinned King and all subsequent Yaa Naas to follow. My call was necessitated by several reasons – including health, security, convenience and respect for customs.
Firstly, I will not be surprise if one is able to fetch animal droppings right at the doors of the current palace – and one risks helping international visitors to clean off animal droppings from their shoes if care is not taken during a visit to the Gbewaa Palace. It is an open space where animals can roam and anybody who deems it fit can enter. Until the happenings in 2002, there was no security post at the palace, meaning anyone at all could walk into the palace without restrictions.
As powerful as our king is, there should be some form of protection for him. If his palace has nothing at all, it should not be an open space for animals and uninvited guests to hold their own vigils. People going into the palace must go through some checks and be confirmed as clean visitors. Unlike some of us, not everyone can and must be with the King at their own convenience. It is true that he is for all and must be available for all; but while fulfilling this, we must also understand that he is human; not just an ordinary man, but a man occupying a position that others want to occupy. Princes eye the throne like politicians eye the throne of the president. Given that people can do anything to sit where a Dagbon King is sitting, we must do all to protect any King on the throne.
Secondly, may Allah forbid, but if our king is sick of malaria today, the only option for him to be attended to is either Yendi hospital or an available private hospital in Yendi; the dangerous part of that option however is, within 5 minutes of the King’s arrival at the hospital, we will see his bedridden pictures on social media – with captions as “Pray for our King, he is not feeling well.” One clear example when this incident happened was when N yebi Dakpema died. By tradition, this was a man whose death needed some customary announcement. But because he passed on in the public eye, people announced it on Facebook, even before some of his immediate family heard of it. We do not want this to be happening to our King. Such actions erode our customs, and make our Kingdom look weak; we have a special elder assigned to announce the passing of Dagbon Kings – and obviously he is not on Facebook
Additionally, just look at the pavilion and hall of the King. Some Dagbon sub – chiefs have better halls than the one currently used by the Lion King. The King deserves an up to date auditorium or hall, where he can receive and address both local and international visitors. The current hall is below his standard as one of the most respected Kings in the world. It is not conducive for holding longer meetings, and cannot accommodate a certain number of people. Our King deserves better!
Finally, on why the need for a befitting palace, Dagbon has a very rich culture; we deserve a place where certain traditional artifacts will be kept for tourists to visit. Because we have nowhere to maintain these things, they lay in someone’s room and rot away. The kingdom deserves what we can call the “Gbewaa Museum of Culture.” In this, we will have pictures of our past Yaa Naas and their stories – I mean the very beautiful and rich stories. We will have some of our artifacts; and perhaps some war tools that we can put on display. Not only will this preserve them for future generations – it will market our beautiful culture and earn some revenue for the palace and Dagbon. Why should we not go for this? Do you remember the story of horse shoes on a Baobab tree? Do you remember the finger prints of Zagli Dapali Sigli’s wives that are still printed on rocks at Zulogu Kpaliyogu ni? Name them…..
I think there is consensus among many Dagbon sons and daughters that we should have the palace; but who should own the cost of the palace is the issue now. I personally called for Dagbon people to handle the cost of the palace without any government intervention. This belief is based on experience and interaction with others; and I will explain….
To begin with, if we Dagombas carry the cost of the palace, it will be an imposed duty on us to protect it and make sure it is in better condition all the time. Mostly, when government provides a property, people see it as a public good and as such nobody wants to be responsible for its protection and or maintenance. Look around the country and see the various stadia that were constructed by government for the CAN 2000. None of them is in a good shape, and nobody cares! We do not want our palace to be in a similar situation. Even if our brothers back home will not worry about its maintenance, we those outside Ghana shall take it as our duty to make sure our efforts do not rot away. If it is a government property however, we might never get the chance to provide this oversight.
Additionally, allowing government to provide a palace for our King will be one of the serious mistakes that we can ever do. I know every Dagbon man and woman is praying so much that he or she does not live to see another era where a Yaa Naa has to be chosen through the intervention of government. I cannot count the number of times I shed tears because of how people outside Dagbon insulted us through the mediation process. I do not pray that my kids go through same. We have a government that listened to the elders and did the right thing; what happens tomorrow if the government in power wants a particular person as our King, and is the owner of the palace? Remember that government is allowed to use any force possible to protect its property; so if any crazy government makes the decision to have a particular individual as our King; it can take control of the palace and do whatever it wants; after all it would be a government building! That is to say, the King Dagbon will like will have no palace, because the palace would be owned by government which has its preferred candidate.
The most serious part of making such a mistake is that, we will add more insults to our excruciating injuries if this happens. If you are from the north, you will agree that when we discuss issues with our southern counterparts, one thing they don’t shy away from is the reminder that we attend school for free in the north. The rude ones add that “we have nothing, just waste resources of Ghana and are there causing troubles too.” I know you have heard this before, for I have heard it several times – even here in the United States. Now imagine our palace coming from the government. We will need to find some caves to hide from insults.
Dagbon has men and women, in and outside Ghana, who are willing and capable of providing the King and Kingdom with a modern and befitting palace; and we must not sit and allow someone to do what we can do on our own, only to use it as an insult.
We those outside Ghana have already formed groups and are working on resource mobilization towards that project. At the local level, enthusiastic Dagbon men and women can equally organize and mobilize the resources in kind and cash that they can afford. Then together, we can bring our resources together and achieve this important goal. If there is anything I can say, I will tell you that people are ready and willing to take up this project; and we must not sit and allow government to do this – only to add more insults to the existing ones.
Dagbani bi diri takahi, and this one must not be an exception. We can do this in many folds, and we must do it! There are people in Dagbon who might never buy into this idea just because it is coming from a particular individual – we shall move beyond those people. When they realize that their evil is not winning, they will join our positive efforts. Such people have been living in Dagbon, they shall continue to be there; so they are, and so they will be. But in all this, Dagbon shall progress!!
Long Live Dagbon, Long Live the King!!
Iddrisu Abubakari Sadiq (Zuu Bukali) – MBA, CPA.
Source: ChakantuksaaGh.com/Tikuri Solomon Kodjo 2019.
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