THE GONJA KINGDOM: THE NPP DIRTY POLITICS AND THE JOHN MAHAMA FACTOR.

 

By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese

(Youth Imam from Laribanga)

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The great Kingdom of Gonja is in the news again, and as usual, it is for the bad reasons from the perspective of people with conscience. Well, the news was deliberately and needlessly generated by the NPP in the region for the purposes of embarrassing the King of Gonjaland, President John Mahama and the entire Kingdom for petty political ends.

On this, I have no reason to doubt one of the finest and credible Journalists from Gonjaland, Mahama Haruna, General Manager of the award-winning Nkilgi FM, when he submitted that the renovation of the 2-rooms and a hall, an extension of the Jakpa Palace structure, was done by Hon Abu Jinapor. The genuine question Mr. Mahama Haruna however, asked was, how come that anytime Abu Jinapor executes any such project, he is always quick to label it as Dr. Bawumia’s achievement? Of all times, why will Abu Jinapor and his NPP choose now to embarrass the King and his son, John Mahama? Why will it be the time that the Kingdom is called to gather around the Yagbonwura to celebrate his one year Anniversary?

In my last epistle on a closely related subject matter, this was how I concluded: “I dare say that, if John Dramani Mahama is being chased from Accra, Gonjaland is not the home he can run to. In fact, the Kingdom will be ready to hand him over to his adversaries without asking for a reward in return. I am back to my cave in the Laribanga Mountains.” I dare say that, this assertion is still relevant and applicable as it were yesterday.

WHAT ARE THE BARE FACTS?

1. Let it be on record that, it is never and can never be true that the NPP and its government built the current Jakpa Palace. In fact, the current 2-bedrooms and a hall that has been repainted was never built by the NPP, but a collective efforts of the Gonjaland Youth Association and the respective District Assemblies and other well-meaning sons and daughters of the land. It is the fact that the current structure in reference is not the entire Jakpa palace but just an extension.

2. Let it also be record that right from Yagbonwura Awushi who first settled in Damongo, to Yagbonwura Doshie, none of them occupied the repainted 2-bedrooms. It was ONLY Yagbonwura Tuntumba Boresa who occupied one of the rooms during his reign. In fact, the current Yagbonwura has not stepped into this same repainted structure. He is currently occupying a private residence but only come to the premises of the Jakpa Palace for ceremonial activities. If what I am hearing is right, then I can safely report that, he has indicated that he would not step into the current repainted rooms in the nearest future.

3. The fact is also that, the actual Jakpa Palace which has hosted almost all the Yagbonwuras and their households is standing there without any renovation. Indeed, it does not need a renovation but a complete rebuilding which the NPP are smartly trying to swindle and choking Gonjalanders from discussing it. 

4. On his ascension to the throne, the issue of the renovation of the palace came on top of many priorities. King Bii-Kunuto in his wisdom tasked the Dr. Abu Sakara led committee to come out with a plan as to how to rally the sons and daughters of the Kingdom to get that project executed. Mind you, the Abu Jinapor led NPP in Savannah Region opposed the leadership of Dr. Abu Sakara. They indicated that they (the NPP in the region) cannot and will not work with Dr. Abu Sakara, and that if he remained the chairman of the local organizing committee, the NPP government and its leadership in the region will not honor the out-dooring of the Yagbonwura and will not also contribute to it. In his wisdom, the King, called their bluff and tasked Dr. Abu Sakara to continue his work.

5. In the circumstances, H.E John Mahama requested audience of the committee and subsequently requested it to get a complete drawings of a new palace comprising of 4 phases in which there will be the palace to house the King, a separate place to house his household, a multipurpose hall for proceedings and other durbars and a museum to display the artifacts and other historical sites in the Kingdom. This has been done and a contractor has been engaged and currently working, as far as I can report.

6. Seeing this, the Abu Jinapor led NPP in Savannah region, in their usual attempt to embarrass President Mahama and insult the rest of us in Gonjaland, ambushed the King when Dr. Bawumia visited somewhere November 2023, to not only get the palace to enskin Dr. Bawumia as a chief but to get the news out there that the Jakpa Palace needed renovation and that Dr. Bawumia had decided to do the renovation for Gonjas. This was allegedly planned and executed by the NPP leadership in the region including, Chairman Kalamonia, Hon Abu Jinapor (the architect) and the Regional Minister.

7. Acoording to the their own members, this was an act to get Dr. Bawumia to trust them and to feel they are doing everything to embarrass John Mahama and by extension the King of Gonjaland. The NPP in Gonjaland can and will sell the identity of the Gonja Kingdom at the least chance for political glory. This is a fact backed by their activities at all time necessary.

THE JOHN MAHAMA FACTOR.

In the midst of all these theatrics, there is only one goal, and that is to embarrass John Mahama. It is a fact that, if there is anywhere on this earth that John Mahama gets insulted and attacked, it is no where than in Gonjaland. Sadly, he gets insulted and attack in Bole and in Damongo the most. Let me quickly submit that Bole is now getting better while Damongo is getting worse since the coming of Abu Jinapor in Damongo and in fact, in the politics of Gonjaland.  

I am zooming on Abu Jinapor for very good reasons and without malice. The reason is that, all of these orchestrations are allegedly cooked and executed at his behest. It is common knowledge that he is the bankroller of the NPP in Savannah Region and that all, perhaps, with the exception of Dr. Clifford the Council of State Member, Chief Kpangriwura Adam Zakaria, fall to the dictates of Abu in the region. 

From his own allies, we pick reliable information that he is aiming and working tirelessly to become a running mate some day. Good for Gonjaland anyway, but must that ambition override the bigger interest of one of us becoming President? Should that push Abu Jinapor to want to make a compelling case to his political godfathers that he is capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Mahama? His social media army always wants to compare him with John Mahama, and this is a fact.

I will leave out the very minutest details and deal with the very recent happenings that everybody in Gonjaland can relate to. Aside from embarrassing Hon. Alhaji Muniru Limuna at the instance of H.E John Mahama and his father, the Buipewura, in Buipe, Abu and his NPP have committed grave sins against the interest of the Gonja Kingdom. By painting the last Yagbon Damba of the late Yagbonwura Tuntumba with NPP colors, to the extent of painting the calabashes meant to display the traditional “Big TZ” with NPP colors and pictures of Abu Jinapor. These facts are sacrosanct, except that they don’t want us to state them on days like this.

Check these!

1. On the 23rd March 2023, the NPP, with the tacit approval of Abu and the NPP regional Chairman, Kalamonia, the Northern Regional Organizer of the NPP, Rashid COP and the Savannah Regional Organizer of the NPP, Nana Kwame, collaborated and got NPP boys to hoot at John Mahama at the out-dooring of Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto. This was immediately carried by pro-NPP media houses and gave a completely different narrative that John Mahama was being hooted at because the people of Gonjaland were angry with him, and the reasons is that he did not engage in any meaningful development in the land when he was President.

2. The 21st November 2023 enskinment of Dr. Bawumia at the Jakpa Palace was yet another orchestration of the NPP in Gonjaland to get the King and the palace entangled as well as embarrass John Mahama. This was equally reported by pro-NPP media differently to give Dr. Bawumia a certain lead over John Mahama in Gonjaland.

3. In February 2024, a well crafted plan to embarrass and disgrace John Mahama at the funeral of the late Queen Mother of Busunu Traditional Area was yet executed by the NPP and its leadership in Damongo Constituency. Some two days to the funeral, the plan was hatched that the NPP should mass up around Abu Jinapor and the Chief of Staff when John Mahama comes to the funeral grounds. The plan was to as usual hoot at John Mahama to make the case before the Chief of Staff that, yes, indeed, Abu Jinapor controls Damongo and by extension, Gonjaland as a whole. This plan was ably and swiftly foiled by the NDC with a counter plan which resulted in a clash. Indeed, Abu Jinapor and his NPP first attempted to breach the security of John Mahama with their NPP van, but this was ruthlessly stopped by the NDC. The next was that, while H.E John Mahama took his seat at the funeral, 15 minutes after the program had begun, Abu Jinapor in the midst of a noisy brass band, led the Chief of Staff to storm the grounds. Unfortunately, this was at the time the family of the late Queen Mother was presenting her tribute. Again, this was stopped by the NDC and it led to the final clash at the instance of John Mahama, the Busunuwura and the family of the late Queen Mother. 

4. The final of these embarrassments is the ongoing orchestration by Abu Jinapor led NPP in Savannah Region, in the case of the renovation of the Jakpa Palace which as usual is playing well to the plan of the NPP. The craftily put this together and decided to release it to coincide with the 1 year Anniversary of the Yagbonwura and the Annual Gonjaland Youth Congress in Damongo. Also, knowing well that John Mahama in collaboration with the Dr. Abu Sakara’s committee and the Gonjaland Youth Association, had engaged a contractor to undertake the construction of a new befitting palace in 4 different phases for the King and the people of Gonja, the NPP decided to do this in order to take that shine off John Mahama. Let it be on record that, H.E John Mahama was doing this in the quiet and as a son of the land and not a politician, which is why there was no jamboree or earlier disclosure, but the NPP will always push reasonable people to do what was originally planned to be respectfully done in the quiet. 

5. Unfortunately, and as I indicated earlier, the NPP and its leadership in Savannah Region care less about the image and identity of the Gonja Kingdom, the image of the Yagbonwura and his chiefs, and in fact, the collective pride of the people of the Gonja Kingdom. So, they can sell the land to achieve their political end no matter the cost to the people. They deliberately got Wontumi TV and its allied media houses to engage in a crafted spin on the issue of this renovation of the Jakpa Palace after same had been flooded by their social media communicators both at the national and local levels on their social media handles and platfroms. They conveniently lied against King Bii-Kunuto, the Jakpa palace, John Mahama and the entire Gonja people in the video in circulation from Wuntumi TV. 

In the circumstances, it will serve the good of the Jakpa Palace and for that matter, Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto to either organize a press conference or issue a statement in response to the NPP and Wuntumi TV in particular; the records must be set bare by the Jakpa Palace and to call the NPP and its leadership in Savannah Region to order. The Gonjaland Youth Association has a part to play here. If the Association does not feel obliged to protect John Mahama, a member of the Association in good standing and a proud, accomplished son of the land, it should at least join in the chorus to set the records straight as the Association knows and privy to. I will equally plead with the Dr. Abu Sakara led committee to attempt an image-cleansing act, to get all these mess the NPP has deliberately created, cleaned respectfully.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is it really true that Dr. Bawumia renovated the Jakpa Palace? The answer is a big No. as far as we are told, the 2-bedrooms and a hall, an extension of the palace, was renovated by Abu Jinapor. And this was reported by Mahama Haruna, a credible media personality in Gonjaland. The issue of having to name Dr. Bawumia as the one responsible for the said renovation is an attempt to embarrass not only John Mahama, but the King of Gonjaland for very obvious reasons.

2. Is it the case that John Mahama is undertaking the building of a completely new and befitting palace for the King and the people of Gonjaland? The answer is a Big Yes. Indeed, as far as I know, and from unofficial sources, work has started in earnest and the sod-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Palace on Friday, 26th April, 2024.

3. Is it the case that the ongoing noise of the NPP is an attempt to embarrass John Mahama and to take the shine off him when eventually, the new palace he is building takes shape? This is the NPP for you, and it is unfortunate that its leadership is almost the same as its grassroots; they think the same and act almost the same.

4. How come that Dr. Bawumia will leave the Nayiri Palace and decide to renovate the Jakpa Palace? Is it the case that the Nayiri’s Palace does not need renovation? Could this be for political expediency? Is anybody from the NPP in Gonjaland attempting to use the Jakpa Palace as the convenient ballot in getting his/her political favors in the unfortunate event that Dr. Bawumia wins the next election?

5. Is it true that John Mahama as President constructed the Walewale-Nalerugu road? If true, do your calculation of the cost of 1km of road and that of repainting of 2-bedrooms and a hall, and you would but conclude that, Bawumia, perhaps, still owes John Mahama some coins. If we were to put President John Mahama and Dr. Bawumia on a scale of who has done more in the other’s backyard, Dr. Bawumia would surely have debts to pay President Mahama.

6. If at all Gonjaland wants to build a palace for the King, must it be done by desperate politicians and not the able sons and daughters from the land? Can’t the sons and daughters of the land act as such and not as politicians? Why can’t we at least copy our neighbors from Dabgon who are undertaking a similar project? Why must we always be ready to trade our identity for few temporary political points? Are we really proud as Gonjalanders?

I leave the rest for Gonjas and Gonjaland to ponder. Let me say that, Ghanaians at large have accepted John Mahama. Almost all tribes in Ghana have accepted John Mahama as the next President and Savior. What says my people in Gonjaland? What is your position? Do you want to throw away your son, who Ghanaians have embraced? Would you want to fall for the theatrics and blackmail of NPP leadership in Savannah Region or you want to stand to be counted when the day of reckoning befalls? The time to make a choice is now and never in the future. I am back in my caves in the Laribanga mountains.

Shalom!!!