Malik Yakubu must resign as MP for Yendi - Andani Gate

Representatives of the Andani Gate of the Dagbon Traditional Area at Yendi on Wednesday asked the former Minister of the Interior, Alhaji Malik Al-Hassan Yakubu to resign as Member of Parliament for Yendi.

The representatives led by Dr. Wayo Seini alleged that "the magnitude of the crimes committed against the citizens of his (Yendi) constituency and the Dagbon state in general, is of such monstrous dimension that he is not fit to be in parliament."

Dr Seini, who is also a prominent member of the Andani Gate of the late Ya Naa, Yakubu Andani II, made the call at an emotional press conference in Accra to brief journalists on developments in the Yendi Traditional Area after the recent fighting in which the Ya-Naa and at least 28 others were killed.

The press conference, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, 02 April 2002, was postponed at the eleventh hour to Wednesday 03 April. The postponement was to enable them to meet President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu, for an emergency meeting with the family members before they met the press.

Dr Seini, who broke down in tears twice during the press conference, was flanked by Dr Abdul Gamel Nasar, a leading member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) and a prominent citizen of Dagbon, Dr Yahuza Gomda, nephew of the late Ya-Na, Mr Andani Alhassan and Alhaji Fuseni Baba.

He accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of the Dagbon State and the family of the Andani Gate, alleging that in spite of several contacts, including telephone calls made on Monday, 25 March, to alert the government about the killings at Yendi, "the government through its numerous spokespersons maintained that the situation was normal and that there was no threat whatsoever to life and property in Yendi.

"Not even calls by the people who were lucky enough to have escaped from the terror to tell the tales of people being killed could change the attitude of officialdom, which still insisted that the situation was normal."

Dr Seini stated that the people of Dagbon demand from the government an explanation of "the bizarre circumstances leading to the cold-blooded murder of the king and about 40 others by the terrorists."

"We make this demand of government not only because it has the bounding duty to protect the lives and property of all Ghanaians but also because government had in the face of this development, indicated publicly that it was in control of the situation and that all was normal in Yendi."