Tension In Savannah Region As Buipe Youth Threatens Protest Against Buipewura

The youth of the Central Gonja District decided to conduct a demonstration against the area's paramount chief, Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II, and as a result, there is presently a massive military presence in the town of Buipe.

The Savannah Regional Security Council sent out the highly armed soldiers yesterday night after failing in its early attempts to persuade the youths to call off the planned public protest.

According to reports, the security personnel was under strong orders to use all available methods, including lethal force, to stop the young from taking to the streets and/or approaching the Buipewura palace.

Following the Buipewura's installation of a Fulani chief early last month, the tension in the area had already started.

The chief has been identified as Braimah Musah Barry, a famous and long-time Fulani youth leader in Buipe.

The same chief gave the Fulani people 200 hectares of unoccupied land to dwell on and construct their homes in the Buipe town in 2020 during an annual ceremony hosted by Tabital Pulaaku, a civil society group focused on issues facing Fulani communities.

For the development of a school for Fulani students who now experience extreme bias in several public schools in Buipe and the surrounding savanna region, four independent plots of land were allotted in the same location.

The suburb will be called Mende.

This conflict was subsequently spurred on by the enskinment of this future Fulani community.

First, the official youth organization of the Gonja people, the Gonjaland Youth Association, under the direction of Muftaw Borejinkrp, the organization's public relations officer, launched a full-scale campaign to persuade the Buipewura to reverse his decision to permit the establishment of a complete Fulani settlement and the free integration of the Fulani people in his traditional jurisdiction.

The young people took part in radio debates and sent letters of appeal to a variety of organizations, such as the Savanna Regional House of Chiefs and the Jakpa Palace in Damongo.

The youth insisted that the Buipewura lacked the right to unilaterally sell a portion of Gonjaland to Fulanis without the approval of the Yagbonwura-led Gonjaland council.

The youths went so far as to say that the Buipewura's actions had caused the Savanna Regional House of Chiefs to disintegrate and that its members no longer attended its meetings.

They also claimed that having a Fulani chief in a Gonja chief palace was a novelty that went against Gonja tradition and culture, despite the fact that history has shown that the Gonja and the Fulani have long-standing ties. They cited the account of how a Fulani mallam named Fati Murikpe assisted his friend Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa in conquering what is now modern-day Gonjaland.

The youths went to the royal mausoleum in the village of Mankuma, on the Bole-Sawla road, on December 4, after the media campaign was unsuccessful, in order to ask the ghosts of former Gonja kings to step in and help.

On December 6, at this moment, Buipewura's palace made its first public statement in response to the young initiative.

The Gonjaland Youth Association's allegations were dismissed by the Neripewura of the Buipewura acting on his behalf, who also threatened the organization's spokesperson.

On December 7, when Buipewura's palace threatened them, the youngsters promptly reacted:

"As we entreat Neripewura to desist from issuing further insinuations and threats, particularly to the Leadership of the Association, we also wish to call on the Youth of Gonjaland to remain calm, as Leadership continues to deal with the real issues that appear to bedevil our identity, custom, tradition, and sense of belonging.

We further wish to reassure our Members and the general public that, the real issues will be dealt with in the best interest of our land and tradition, as well as the respectable Chiefs and Youth".

The Gonjaland youth association's troubled spokesperson then made his resignation announcement on the 17th.

The Savanna Regional Minister visited Buipe on this same day to address the young people who were organizing a street demonstration against Buipewura.

In a separate statement, the Buipewura warned the young people not to engage in their planned activities close to his palace.

"The Buipe Traditional Area has learned with serious concern the threat of invasion of the Buipewura’s palace by a youth group in Buipe led by one Issah Alhassan and Yahaya Razack who are natives of Buipe on a false and baseless allegation that the Buipewura has enskinned someone of Fulani extraction as the traditional chief of Mande, a suburb of Buipe.

For the avoidance of doubt, Buipewura wishes to place on record that nobody of Fulani extraction has been enskinned as a traditional chief contrary to the misinformation being peddled around.

On the contrary Mr. Alhassan Abdulai JB, a royal from the Chinchanko gate in Buipe was nominated and duly enskinned as Mandewura of Buipe on Friday 16th December 2022 at the Buipewura’s palace. The palace further wishes to place on record that all attempt by the palace to engage the said group to seek an amicable solution has proven futile with their leaders insisting all Fulanis in Buipe are ejected an action which flies in the face of the 1992 constitution.

While the Buipe palace recognizes the right to freedom of expression, we wish to state that Buipewura’s house is private property and thus must not be invaded by Mr. Issah and his group.

We wish to assure the public that the Buipe palace has not and will not threaten any citizen, be it Gonja or otherwise, Buipewura is an avid proponent of the rule of law. Residents of the Buipe Traditional Area have lived in harmony with other tribes and will continue to do so as far as Buipe is concerned”.

The security forces were deployed in Buipe to protect lives and property in case of any unforeseen circumstances after the Regional Minister's meeting failed to halt the planned demonstration.

According to reports, the local Fulani population should be ejected. The Savanna area alone is home to over 15,000 Fulanis.

The Fulani welfare organization Tabital Pulaaku has responded by urging calm and peaceful cooperation in Buipe.

Alhaji Musah Barry, the organization's general secretary, stated in a statement that the organization had "noted with grave concern" the occurrence in Buipe.

"The welfare group wishes to place on record that for decades, people of Fulani extraction have coexisted peacefully and harmoniously with our Gonja brothers and sisters in the Buipe traditional area and across Gonjaland without any conflict or infractions. We also wish to assure you that it is never the intention of the Fulani community in Buipe to appropriate any land or usurp the well-tested traditional structures of the good people of Gonjaland. To the best of our knowledge, we only have a Fulani chief in Buipe to coordinate the activities of the Fulanis just as other tribes have chiefs in Accra, Kumasi, Techiman, etc. Indeed no Fulani has been enskinned as a traditional Gonja chief neither has any Fulani been enskinned as ruler of any town. We will continue to employ all appropriate and peaceful avenues toward a peaceful resolution of this impasse".