Accra | Monday
GHANA’S government enacted emergency measures on Sunday to censor reports of clan violence in the north of the country which last week claimed the lives of about 40 people, including a tribal ruler.
The government in the west African state brought in the 1994 Emergency Powers Act to ”censor any and all news emanating from or about the area affected by the state of emergency,” according to an official statement.
Dagomba king Yakubu Andani II and scores of other people were killed on Wednesday during fighting in the Dagomba capital Yendi, 530 kilometres north of Accra.
The killings came as a severe embarrassment for the government.
There have been allegations that official apathy and even complicity, were responsible for the tragedy.
”Calm in the north is fragile and needs to be nurtured into peace,” the statement said, adding it was ”time to show maturity and a sense of responsibility. Titillating scoops will not help.”
”Unless you are reporting an official release from my office, you should clear any other news item on Dagbon affairs with this ministry,” Information Minister Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey warned journalists, saying the decree had ”the authority of the president”.
According to one version of events, Wednesday’s violence was sparked after the Abudu faction insulted the king’s messenger, who had been sent to discuss the celebration of the Dagomba’s main festival, the Bugum.
Other reports said the fighting was triggered after members of one faction destroyed a bicycle belonging to a person from the rival clan.
Interior Minister Malik Al-hassan Yakubu and Imoro Andani, the minister for the Northern Region where the killings took place, quit after the attack.
The Dagombas comprise about eight percent of Ghana’s population. – Sapa-AFP