THE Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has banned the celebration of the Bugum (Fire) Festival in Yendi and Sang in the Yendi municipality.
This year’s celebration was scheduled for yesterday, December 27, 2009.
A statement signed and issued in Tamale by the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba, did not, however, state the reason for the ban, but it is believed to be linked to security issues.
It stated that “the Fire Festival may be celebrated in other parts of the Dagbon Traditional Area”.
The statement warned that its celebration should be observed within the confines of the laws of the country.
It further admonished security agencies to deal ruthlessly with “any miscreants who take the law into their own hands”.
Although the REGSEC placed a ban on the celebration of the festival in Dagbon in 2007, including Tamale, Nanum and the Central Gonja District, for fear that it could lead to a breach of the peace, the youth poured out in their numbers in defiance of the ban. However, there were no reported incidents of violence or injury.
Following the murder of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II and 40 others in March 2002, coupled with the subsequent imposition of a curfew and a state of emergency, the festival was suspended for three years.
Dagombas and other ethnic groups in the north mostly celebrate the festival on the 10th day of the new Lunar month. It is believed to mark the edict of a prominent Dagomba chief who, in tracing his lost son, ordered the lighting of thatches in search of his son. The festival is also celebrated for its Islamic religious significance.
In modern times, however, the revellers dispose of their thatches in a thicket, while knowledgeable Mallams later reveal the events which are likely to occur in the New Year to the chiefs, who in turn announce them to the people.
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