Man, Family of 23 Banished By Wungu-Naba Says He Still Lives in Fear

Wungu-Naba

The poor father of eight (8) children, Fuseini Bawa, who was unjustifiably banished from Kukuazugu together with his entire household of 23 by the Paramount Chief of Wungu has told Savannahnews in a follow-up interview that he was still living in fear and that his life was still in danger in the area.

 

He said that he could not also guarantee the safety of his family in Kukuazugu, a suburb of Walewale in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region following the failure of the Overlord of Mamprugu Kingdom, Nayiri Na Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga to intervene in the amicable settlement of the matter that led to his banishment by Wungu Naba Alhaji Saaka Sulemana. 

Fuseini Bawa bemoaned that the Chief was still not reformed in his stance against him, and had also succeeded in getting all the “super powers in Walewale including the District Chief Executive, the BNI and the Police officers to rally behind him”. 

He asserted that all of those people he could have run to seek refuge from were against him, because he was the only one who boldly stepped forward to rebuke the Wungu Naba and attempted legal actions against him for unlawfully keeping the cows for over a year without distributing them to the owners.

According to him, even though the Nayiri had prevailed upon him (Fuseini Bawa) to drop the legal action he initiated against the Wungu Naba and also ordered the Chief for his return to the community together with his family, the Wungu Naba was still holding in trust all his properties that he confiscated including the 26 cows and the two well stocked boutiques, which are all under huge padlocks till date. 

Fuseini Bawa who is said to be a known cattle dealer told this blogger that per their custom, banishment was a serious punishment which does not only forever make a person and his or her generation outcasts in the eyes of the entire members of the community, but also prevents them from having access to public places, until the time that the Chief himself had openly revoked the curses associated with the practice.

“The Chief rained so many curses on me and my family for trying to take him to court, and because of that we appear to the people like unclean people. Now my wives and my children cannot go out freely as it used to be and as for me, I am always hiding because I fear for my life. Our chief does not fear or listen to anybody not even the police”. 

Fuseini Bawa

It would be recalled that the Paramount Chief of the Wungu Traditional Area, Wungu Naba Alhaji Saaka Sulemana banished Fuseini Bawa and his household of 23 from their residence at Kukuazugu, a suburb of Walewale in the West Mamprusi District, and also confiscated five houses (one residential house and four other uncompleted houses belonging to the victim) as well as his two boutiques. 

The Wungu Naba who is noted for handling all criminal cases brought before him and taking arbitrary decisions to sentence or punish offenders instead of allowing such matters to be handled by the Police, slapped Fuseini Bawa with that capital punishment of banishment over an alleged misunderstanding between him and the victim. 

Narrating his ordeal to Savannahnews from his hideout through the mobile phone of his interpreter who is also our informant, the banished Fuseini Bawa bemoaned that his two wives, eight children as well as twelve other relatives living with him have all been banished from the area and any other community that falls under the jurisdiction of the Wungu Naba. 

According to him, the banishment followed his decision to go to court over a disagreement he had with the Wungu Naba concerning the distribution of a number of cattle he and other individuals had left in the care of one Fulani herdsman called Amadu Braimah, who secretly relocated to an unknown destination with some of the animals leaving 115 of the cattle behind.

The attention of the Wungu Naba, according to Fuseini was therefore drawn to the matter, but the Chief unjustifiably decided to seize all the 115 cattle. Out of the 115 cattle, Fuseini said “I had a total of 26 cattle with Amadu but the Wungu Naba decided not to give me even a single calf”. 

Fuseini who felt being cheated therefore, decided to seek legal redress to enable him get back his 26 cattle from the Chief.

But the Wungu Naba feeling disrespected by Fuseini, invoked the stone-age punishment which involves banishing him and his entire family from the town.  

Fuseini’s two wives told the paper that they were ejected from their home in the absence of their husband, and that they had to spend two nights in the bush with their children including an eight months old baby.

“We had no place to go rather than spending the nights in the bush with our children.

Wives of Fuseini

A Spokesperson to the Wungu Naba, Kusob Baba, when contacted admitted the incident but declined to comment further since the Nayiri (Overlord of Mamprugu) had asked for the matter to be referred to him. 

However, after their return to Kukuazugu, the First Wife of Fuseini, Madam Sadia Fuseini told Savannahnews in an interview that because the Wungu Naba had refused to release the confiscated properties back to her husband, the whole family was finding it very difficult to survive.

According to her, even Fuseini wanted to send the children to different school in a different community to avoid the public ridicules the children were facing, but there was no money. 

When asked whether they had reported the matter to the police, Fuseini and his first wife Sadia asserted that the Police in Walewale had been reduced to just robber stamps, as they were being ordered around by the Chief and the District Chief Executive who is also a strong supporter of the Wungu Naba.

The Wungu Naba was said to have used seven (7) heavily armed police personnel to distribute the 115 cows at gun point after one year of keeping them. 

“Those who were supposed to get maybe 15 were given 10, those who had maybe 20 cows were given 13 and they were not allowed to select the fatty ones by the armed police and the Chief. They also had no chance to complain. But when I went there to also take my 26 cows, the Chief ordered the Police to sack me so I had to run away,” Fuseini asserted.  

When contacted by Savannahnews, the District Chief Executive for West Mamprus, Adam Yussif denied that Fuseini and his family were ever banished by the Paramount Chief of Wungu, but admitted the misunderstanding over the 115 abandoned cows by the Fulani man.

He said that over 200 people came out to lay claims as owners of the cows, but the Chief he indicated ordered that nobody should touch any cow and referred the matter to him (the DCE) who also set up a committee under the District Security Committee (DISEC) to investigate the matter and come out with the rightful owners of the cows.

After their investigations, they settled on 49 names excluding Fuseini. So the cattle were distributed under the supervision of heavily armed police to curtail any security threat.

Efforts to speak to the District Police Commander of Walewale, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Simon Peter Akabati proved unsuccessful.

Kpanshegu-Naa Appeals to Government for a Health Centre

Kpanshegu-Naa posed with Diana of Viasat1 TV

The Chief of Kpanshegu, a farming community in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region, Kpanshegu-Naa Awudu Adam has passionately appealed to government to provide the area with a health centre to cater for the medical needs of the people. 

According to the Chief, the community had been neglected for far too long and could not even boast of any specific developmental project intervention by the government. 

Speaking in an interview with Savannahnews, the Kpanshegu-Naa said that the only health facility that was built by the Former District Chief Executive of the area, Alhassan Mumuni became a white elephant after the project was unjustifiably abandoned by the contractor after roofing.

The walls of the building he said developed serious cracks and the foundation or the base also started sinking after six months of abandoning it.

Meanwhile, the Kpanshegu community has about 1800 human population but the inhabitants trek several kilometers to Tamale for healthcare including women in labour.

On the other hand, Naa Awudu Adam also called for the construction of the roads in the area to smoothly link farmers to the market centres and the regional capital, Tamale.

Currently, Kpanshegu with its large population has no school, after the only school in the community was destroyed by heavy downpour some four years ago. 

The Chief said that the majority of the School children in the community had joined their parents on the farm while the others study under trees. All the trained teachers who used to teach in the school according to Naa Awudu Adam had run away after the collapse of the school building.

Commendably, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salaga North Constituency in the East Gonja District, Alhassan Mumuni cut the sod for the construction of a six unit classroom block for the people of Kpanshegu at the cost of GHC296, 000.00.

The MP who was particularly disturbed about the plight of the school children in the area charged the contractors to complete the project on time to enable the children get back to the classroom.

He also promised to provide trained teachers who would be willing to stay in the community to support the school.

UDS Harmattan School Advocates Attitudinal Change Through Ethical Crusade

Participants at this year’s University for Development Studies (UDS) Harmattan School lectures held in Tamale, have advocated for Ghanaians to adopt a positive attitude through ethical crusade or social re-engineering in order to enhance accountable governance in the country.

They said a holistic approach to the virtues of good governance was what could really make accountable governance a reality in Ghana, stressing that, this should be done from the home through the school system to the work place.

A communiqué issued after the two-day lectures held at the Tamale Campus of the UDS, a copy of which Savannahnews intercepted, recommended that the Constitution of Ghana should also be amended to address the problem of Executive dominance, in particular over Parliament, so as to improve checks and balances.

In Ghana, issues on corruption have recently gained frenzied in public discourse across the media landscape. This is due to the socio-political and economic challenges that the country faces.  

The theme for the 2014 Harmattan School lectures ‘Accountable Governance- A Key to National Development’ is very critical in this regard. For instance, the communiqué cited some perceived corrupt practices involving the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone; the drill ship saga by the Kuffuor administration and the Fortiz-Merchant Bank sale issue, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority and the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency in the current administration.

The communiqué charged government to create the appropriate means and mechanisms for enhanced accountable governance in both public and private institutions, adding “State institutions mandated to fight corruption should be empowered to be independent in the performance of their statutory functions”, it emphasised.

Furthermore, the Right to Information Bill, it said, should be passed into law and the Whistle Blowers’ Act also pursued vigorously.

It charged citizens and civil society organisations to demand and secure space within the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies system for engagement on issues of transparency and accountability in the management of resources and service delivery.

Meanwhile, the Harmattan School started in 2005 as a platform for postgraduate students of the UDS to present policy papers for assessment as part of their training requirements. However, in 2007 the University institutionalized it as one of the fora for Think-Tanks to interrogate development issues in the country.

It is usually organised in February (during the Harmattan season, which runs from December to March each year). The 2014 Harmattan School thus brought together interest groups including Academia, Civil society organizations, Non-Governmental Organisations and Government agencies, to discuss the role of Accountable Governance in curbing corruption to accelerate the socio-economic development of Ghana and Northern Ghana in particular.

Since its inception, it has consistently broadened its scope by exploring the diversified Ghanaian Economy to propel National Development. 

The effects of the discourse led to the establishment of a programme in Peace Studies in the University. Unfortunately the UDS is the sole sponsor of this all important programme thus this has affected the publication of the Harmattan School papers.

Wungu Naba Banishes Man, Family Of 23 in Walewale

Wungu Naba

The Paramount Chief of the Wungu Traditional Area Wungu Naba Alhaji Saaka Sulemana, is reported to have banished one Fuseini Bawa and his entire household of 23 from their residence at Kukuazugu, a suburb of Walewale in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region. 

The chief has also seized the house of Fuseini including four other uncompleted houses and two boutiques belonging to two Fuseini's wives. 

This development comes on the heels of several allegations being leveled against the Wungu Naba in recent times. He is accused by some citizens of the area for always using his children to bully and beat up anyone who opposes his autocratic style of leadership.

For instance, on March 10, 2013, two sons of the Wungu Naba reportedly beat up one Issifu Sulemana, a development worker in the presence of the Walewale police for arresting a Fulani man who unknown to the latter was working for the former. 

The herdsman, according to Issifu who spoke to Savannahnews, had allowed cattle to destroy a forest plantation established with the support of the same chief to combat environmental degradation in his area but who later turned around to kick against the entire project for personal reasons.

Also, the Wungu Naba is alleged to have been sitting on criminal cases brought before him and taking arbitrary decisions to the displeasure of complainants most of the time. 

Why Fuseini has been banished   

Speaking to Savannahnews via phone from a hideout, Fuseini confirmed that his two wives, eight children as well as other family members have been banished from Walewale, an area under the Wungu Traditional Area, following his decision to go to court over a disagreement he had with the Wungu Naba.

He explained that, there was a disagreement over the distribution of a number of cattle left in the care of a Fulani herdsman called Amadu Braimah by several individuals after the Fulani man reportedly relocated to an unknown place. 

Fuseini Bawa

The attention of the Wungu Naba, Fuseini said, was therefore drawn to a kraal of 115 cattle left behind by Amadu and he decided to seize them. Fuseini said: “I had a total of 26 cattle with Amadu but the Wungu Naba decided not to give me even a single calf”. 

Speaking through an interpreter in his native Mampruli language, he added “I felt being cheated unfairly in the face of natural justice and therefore, I decided to seek legal redress to enable me get back my lifetime investment”.

However, the decision by Fuseini to sue the Wungu Naba, this blogger gathered, did not entirely go down well with him as he questioned why the former will go to court over a spotless decision he (Wungu Naba) took. Feeling disrespected by Fuseini, the chief invoked a Stone Age punishment which involves banishing the former and his entire family from the town.  

Savannahnews gathered that, a taskforce led by one Chief Dan who is also a Registrar of Bolgatanga Polytechnic, a son of the Chief Imam of Walewale as well as Alhaji Abuba and Kosobe-Dana (both sons of Wungu Naba) stormed Kukuazugu on the night of December 24, 2013 and forcefully ejected Fuseini’s family from 

their home.

 

Fuseini’s wives, recalled that, an emissary sent by the Wungu chief led by Chief Dan came to their house and enquired of the whereabouts of their husband. However, they replied: “Our husband a few days ago heard that the Wungu Naba had banished him from the town and so, he decided to leave without informing us where he was going.”

In a vivid account to this blogger, they said they were ejected from their home in the absence of their husband. “We had no place to go rather than spending the night in the bush with our children”.

In a sharp response, Sadia, first wife of Fuseini, noted that one of those sent by the chief said: “It’s not only your husband who has been asked to leave this town…. you’re also included…..everybody in this house is leaving”. 

Faida (L) and Sadia (R), wives of Fuseini

The second wife, Faida, also told this blogger that she had to endure the cold harmattan night by sleeping in the bush with her one year old baby till the following day. No one, she said in sobs, “came to our aid”.

Reaction From Chief Dan

When contacted, Chief Dan flatly denied that he led a taskforce that was sent by the Wungu Naba to eject Fuseini and his family from their home at Kukuazugu on the eve of Christmas. 

Although he admitted the banishment incident took place, Chief Dan said he was in Bolgatanga at the time it happened and therefore, if anyone said he led any taskforce to eject Fuseini and his family from their home, it is a lie.

Reaction From Wungu Naba

The Spokesperson to the Wungu Naba, Kusob Baba, when contacted by Savannahnews, also declined to comment, except to say that, the matter has been referred to the Nayiri (King of the Mamprugu Kingdom) for redress. 

Meanwhile, at the time of going to press, Fuseini told this reporter in a telephone chat that his entire family has since defied the chief’s order of leaving the town and reoccupied the house from which they were thrown out. 

According to him, his wives, children and other family members, however, have been informed by the subjects of the Wungu Naba that they will be treated in a much inhumane manner on their return next time. 

Also, the other four uncompleted houses and the two boutiques which served as source of income to the family aside the cattle business he is doing, are still under lock and key by the Wungu Naba, Fuseini disclosed. “I cannot go back to the house because my wives said it’s not advisable I come home….they fear for my life. I am running and hiding. My family are hungry…hunger is killing them because their shops have been seized by the Wungu Naba. Please my brother, do what you can do so that I can get help for my wives and little children”, he said in a sad tone.