News censorship on troubled north

Ghana's Ministry of Information has imposed a news censorship of the situation in the Dagbon Traditional Area, Northern Region, where 28 people were killed in fighting last week between rival clans, the Ghana News Agency reported on Sunday. "I am with the authority of the president serving you notice that unless you are reporting an official release from my office you should clear any other news items on the Dagbon affair with the ministry," Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the minister of information, said on Saturday. He said various stations had broadcast news that was "highly inflammatory" of the situation in Yendi, where the fighting took place. "Some are totally untrue, many more are unfounded and/or ill-motivated speculation, and even in some cases where the report is correct they are reports that are calculated to inflame the situation," he said. Under the Emergency Powers Act of 1994 the president can censor any news from or about the area affected by a state of emergency. President John Kufuor declared the emergency on Wednesday following fighting between the Andani and Abudu clans of the Dagbon, in which Paramount Chief Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, 66, was killed. The news agency reported that another 21 people were wounded in three days of clashes that began on 25 March in Yendi over the celebrations of the annual Bugum (Fire) Festival of the chiefs and people of the Dagbon area. The area comprises seven of 13 districts in the Northern Region: the Tamale Municipality, Yendi, Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon-Kumbungu, Gushiegu-Karaga, Saboba-Chereponi and Zabzugu-Tatale.