On Friday 7 November 2025, the Overlord of the Gonja kingdom, Jira Yagbonwura Bii Kunuto Jaw Soale received the Mediation Committee who are to look into the Gbiniyiri conflict in his Palace to introduce them selves to him before the can start their work.
The Chairman of the mediating committee, Mr. Bombadey, on behalf of the committee, speaking at the Palace expressed their deep condolences and regret for the tragedy that led to the loss of lives in his Kingdom. He thanked Yagbonwura for his generosity for making the moment of gathering possible despite the previous coincidence with his travel. That their mandate as a committee is through dialogue, and people should understand as he referred to them as a “dialogue committee.” It is through respect that they can be able to see the path towards peace,” he stated.
During his submission, he made reference to an African proverb, “When you listen to the elders, you get wisdom to build bridges and to build peace,” he said. He admitted that it is in his Kingdom that inspiration of peace is found. That what happened was unfortunate, and they want to ensure that what happened in Gbiniyiri should not be repeated again. They are now happy that there is dialogue and signs of peace restoring back in our communities.
The Chairman reiterated that they were also disturbed as one of his chiefs vacated his palace as it was destroyed. So they are now happy hearing the good news as it is in a rebuilding process and about to be completed. That they want to continue to advocate at all levels of the state and government to finish any rehabilitation and for all the displaced people to come back so that we can live together again in coexistence and in peace.
He concluded his submission by saying that their task as a committee is to support Yagbonwura and his Kingdom to have the peace and tolerance that he the King wants. He further assured the King that they would recommend what the king and his elders want them to do to the state for support and for long-lasting peace. He appealed to His Royal Majesty Yagbonwura to support the mediation committee team as well as grant them permission to execute and accomplish their mandate.
Chief Tolondompewura, speaking on behalf of the Gonjaland Youth Association, highlighted some dignitary members of the association. He started by saying that when they were given the mandate, they set out for two things, which is to work on Gbinyiri and to work on the whole Gonjaland. He is grateful to say that they have now gotten drafted rules for both. The first one on Gbinyiri, one of the recommendations, has already been executed, and that is the rebuilding of the Gbinyiriwura’s palace, and the second one has to do with the bye-laws, he said.
He again acknowledged that as early as the 1930s, the Gonjas already had a constitution. Within that constitution was some of these bye-laws. So they just extracted some and added some new things. It is not new issues they are bringing on board, but they did that alongside the constitution of Ghana, and they also have the lawyer to give them some directives as well. So definitely, it will not be out of place as much of what they have done will be within the confines of the law of Ghana.
He noted that there is a part in the document called “non-negotiable terms.” Those are terms that have already existed, and members will be available to have a lot of discussion with them to enable them to understand much better. Almost everything they have in the constitution does not go on contrary to the current constitution of Ghana, he said.
Source Diwura Abdul Fataw
