Ministers resign after Ghana's tribal infighting leaves 36 people dead

Ghana's interior minister has resigned amid accusations he backed one of two feuding clans involved in fighting this week that left 36 people dead.

But in a statement late on Thursday, Interior Minister Malik al-Hassan Yakubu denied he had anything to do with Wednesday's violence between the Andani and Abudu clans in the northern town of Yendi. The two clans have been rivals since Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957. Both are part of the Dagomba tribe in the northern region of Dagbon.

Mr Yakubu, an Abudu who also represents Yendi in parliament, said he was stepping down so he would not be seen to impede an investigation ordered by Ghana's President, John Kufuor, into the violence.

"Coming from the area, I view it as my prime duty to try to resolve the age-old differences that have plagued Yendi in particular and Dagbon in general," Mr Yakubu said. The area's governor, Prince Imoro Andani, also resigned for the same reasons, the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation said yesterday.

In a nationwide television address, Mr Kufuor said he was sending a delegation to Yendi headed by a senior minister, Joseph Henry Mensah, "to assure the people that government will do all things possible to help them resolve [the dispute]".

On Wednesday, Abudus armed with machetes, guns and bows stormed the Yendi palace of the Ya-Na, or paramount chief of Dagbon, Yakubu Andani, killing him along with his security entourage. Abudus set the palace ablaze in the violence, which left 36 people, mostly Andanis, dead and wounded dozens more.

The interior minister's resignation came after representatives of the slain chief called a press conference in Yendi on Thursday, accusing him of masterminding the violence and calling on him to step down. Police said Yendi has been calm since Thursday, and Mr Kufuor warned it should stay that way. "Anyone or group of persons that might try by words or deeds to take advantage of the present difficulty will be swiftly and decisively dealt with according to the full rigours of the law," he said.

On Wednesday, the government declared a state of emergency in the area, a move which gave security forces increased powers to arrest and detain those believed to have been involved in violence.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been in place in the region since Monday, when tensions began rising at the start of a regional fire festival.