The fact is that, since the DCC began about half a century ago, there has been constant insecurity surrounding the city, as evidenced by the events of March 27, 2002. As a result, a serious percentage of the natives of Yendi, upon acquiring higher education, abandon their beloved city to re-root elsewhere, preferably in Accra, Tamale, Kumasi, and so on.

As they make these places their new homes they take their ingenuity, financial assets, and private businesses along, thus depriving the home town of the badly-needed investments and talents. They move away, not because they don't love Yendi, but because of insecurity. As we all know from the happenings of that day in March 2002, no one provides real security in Yendi, else we wouldn't have had such loss of life. No Dagomba ever points at his/her house with the left hand and this saying is truly applicable in this case. No one can blame them for moving away (but who wouldn't do the same?). It is alright and understandable when people move from one place to another for economic reasons such as to look for jobs, establish enterprises; however, it is not alright and not understandable when people in a country move away from one place because of security reasons.

Annoyingly, all the various governments since independence, till now, have wittingly neglected and kept Yendi out of any development-related policy planning efforts. For the past thousand years, roads linking Yendi to other cities and towns in the Northern Region have not been constructed, except quite recently, the one linking Yendi to Tamale which received attention. All the other roads are still crying out for attention, and so far, in vain. Telecommunication is underdeveloped as no telephone lines were functional during the March 2002 death of several dozen people, and up to date, the majority of interested inhabitants of Yendi have to go to Tamale to send email messages to other parts of the world, for those facilities are largely absent in Yendi, thus far.

That isn't all. No substantial development project has been carried out in this capital for the past half century by any government, though they often wasted no time to adopt executive policies that divided the capital, but they always wasted all the time when it came to developing him. Yendi, our capital, compared to other Ghanaian cities of his stature, is the most neglected of all.

For many years, the clock of urban development in Yendi qua Dagbon traditional capital has not ticked, except the power grid, credit to Mr. Rawlings and the road from Yendi to Tamale, credit to Messrs. Rawlings and Kuffour, so I just wonder how much longer this culture of neglect will continue. My wish is to see this proud city of ours catch up with its counterparts in the country through an accelerated development programme at the national governmental level.

Yendi Municipal Rapid Development Committee

A Yendi Municipal Rapid Development Committee should be established to work in synergy with government and other representatives to speed up the development of the city to comparable level. Yendi is part of the agricultural heartland of Dagbon, and Ghana for that matter, so the central government should revamp the agricultural sector to serve as a base for developing the food-production, food-processing industry, cottage industry. Other roads, except the one connecting Tamale and Yendi which has been constructed, should also be constructed to link Yendi up with other pivotal towns in the region. Further, government, in collaboration with the natives, should develop the commercial infrastructure to augment the flow and capacity of commerce in and through the city.

In addition, government should make it a priority to develop the telecommunication network in order to link the city with other parts of the country and to eliminate the deficiencies of March 2002. What is more, government should work with real estate developers to embark on suitable and affordable real-estate development schemes/projects, among others, to reposition the city as an attractive place to live, work, and establish private businesses/enterprises. Above all, government should assure that security is always provided for the city because you can never tell what is going to happen next in Yendi.

Yendi, the Troubled City!

In spite of the unforgivable, deliberate neglect by all governments and the unforgivable abandonment by the native intelligentsia, Yendi is determined to remain as the unforgetable and troubled city of Ghana, occasionally crying out loud to the nation for due attention; mass deaths in 1969 and turbulence in the preceeding years, chaos in 1974, and recently another mass death in March 2002, viz the DCC. It has been violence, violence, and even more violence. Today, a day rarely passes by without some form of news about Yendi and the DCC, thus putting the capital in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Government should ensure that not even one more soul perishes in Yendi any longer in the name of DCC.

In a nutshell, it is only feasible for us to move the seat of the Ya Naa from Yendi, a city that has stood still for decades now, to Tamale, a city that has been dynamic and vibrant in as much time. This proposal for peace and unity, as noted earlier, is based on modernization; physical and psychological, and part of this process entails promotion of the Yani skin as an all-inclusive modern, people-oriented, socially-focused responsibility capable of adapting to changing trends in order to meet the challenges of the day. With all due respect to Yendi, it is clear that Tamale provides a better environment for promoting the Yani Skin than Yendi. Moving our traditional capital from Yendi should not mean further abandonment, for a socio-economic development programme should be designed and implemented at both governmental and Dagbon level to uplift Yendi from several years of neglect.

Imperatively, moving our traditional capital from Yendi to Tamale would benefit all Dagombas and it's in the best interest of Dagbon to adopt this proposal. No Dagomba, including members of the rival gates has anything to lose if the seat is moved to Tamale, but All Dagombas, including members of both gates have everything to lose if the seat of our king remains in Yendi.

Question: What happens to Yendi if and when we move our TC to Tamale?

1.A new paramountcy should be created for Yendi and a new skin/title named by the next Ya Naa and the elders of Dagbon. The new paramountcy in Yendi should be the second ranking leadership position in the Dagbon traditional hierarchy, second to only the Ya Naa and should therefore pay homage to the Ya Naa located in Tamale (See Appendix 2). The Committee of Experts on Dagbon Traditional Constitution (stated in subsequent sections) should determine and advise Dagbon on how the line of command of the new skin should flow relative to other paramount skins.

2.Whoever is presented by members of any of the royal gates as their heir to the throne, Ya Naa or Yendi chief, should be accepted by all Dagombas without reservations; however, that candidate must be traditionally qualified and conspicuously linked to the Royal Gate.

3.A new Palace should be built in Yendi to house the new paramount chief. Support from all Dagombas is needed for this project.

4.The current Ya Naa's Palace should be preserved as a traditional monument. When total peace and unity arrive in the Dagbon Kingdom the preserved palace could serve as a lodging facility for the Ya Naa whenever he visits Yendi. Other paramount chiefs could also lodge there on their visits. A curator should be put in charge of maintaining and preserving the palace.

5.Yendi should be regarded as the 'military base' of the Dagbon Kingdom and all Dagombas should be ready to fight and defend every inch of land in Dagbon, including Yendi and Eastern Dagbon in the face of any external aggression.

6.To highlight his commitment to strengthen the new Yendi skin, I suggest, for the sake of unity, that the next Ya Naa declares that Yendi becomes the main venue for the annual Bugum (Fire and Victory) festival to be celebrated under the observation of the new paramount chief of Yendi and all capable Dagombas may go on an annual pilgrimage to Yendi for the celebrations. All towns and villages shall continue to celebrate fire festival in their localities, but the major event will take place in Yendi.

In addition, the Ya Naa, in consultation with the Yendi Paramount Chief and other paramount chiefs, will declare one day for the whole of Dagbon to celebrate the Bugum festival. The Ya Naa himself, occassionally could go to Yendi for the Bugum festival celebrations as a show of unity and resolve to maintain Yendi as our traditional 'military base.' The Dagbon traditional army known as the Kambonse (Musketeers) should continue to be based in their currenct locations and ready to defend Dagbon at anytime.

It is envisaged that if this proposal is accepted and adopted by all Dagombas, a new era of very friendly and cordial relationship will prevail between the future Ya Naas located in Tamale and the future Yendi paramount chiefs and visits will be exchanged between them occassionally.

7.A 24-hour a day and 365 days a year (24/365) police guard should be stationed at the new Yendi paramount chief's palace. (Afterall, Dagombas pay tax to the central government and therefore deserve the right of police protection for their Paramount Chief, who is also potentially, the successor to the Ya Naa seated in Tamale, according to this peace proposal, if adopted). Nevertheless, other potential successors to the Yani skin are the gate skins: Mion, Karaga, Karaga, and Tampion (as proposed in subsequent sections).

Question: What happens to the Gulkpegu paramountcy if and when we move our TC to Tamale?

1.Gulkpenaa will continue to have his traditional powers and authority as ruler of Gulkpegu, which includes the Tamale metropolis, but will exclude the Yani enclave, the new Palace of fhe Ya Naa. The Gulkpenaa will continue, as usual, to report to whoever he does report to in the traditional hierarchy. Specifics and details of the separation of authority and jurisdiction shall be determined by the Committee of Experts on Dagbon Traditional Constitution (stated in subsequent section).

2.Again, for the sake of unity, the Ya Naa should declare that the main venue for celebrating the annual Damba (Dancing) festival be held in Tamale under his observation. All Dagombas, who are capable, will make the annual pilgrimage to Tamale to celebrate the Damba festivities. All towns and villages shall continue to celebrate the Damba festival in their paramountcies, but the major event will take place in Tamale. Similarly, the Ya Naa, in consultation with the Yendi Paramount Chief and other paramount chiefs, will declare the days for the whole of Dagbon to celebrate the Damba festival.

3.A 24/365 police guard be stationed at the new Ya Naa's Palace in Tamale. (Afterall, Dagombas pay tax to the central government and therefore deserve the right of police protection for their King, if requested).

Significantly, before we move the traditional capital fromYendi to Tamale, All Dagombas will need to be informed and all the arguments for the strategy explained. It is only when there is a consensus of acceptance by Dagombas to relocate the seat of the Ya Naa to Tamale that we should implement this physical change.

To be continued in the next several editions