Yakubu II

Who was Yakubu II?

Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II of Dagbon was the ruler of the Dagbon Kingdom from 1974 until his death in 2002. He was killed during tribal clashes, and as of 2004 a new ruler had not yet been chosen.

The death of Yakubu II has set a lot of Dagombas against the government of John Kufuor, most accuse the government of not supporting Yakubu II enough and so made his assassination possible. In spite of this conflict, Kufuor got reelected on December 7, 2004.

A new ruler of Dagomba can not be chosen until the old one is buried. It is said that the body of Yakubu II is not complete, the murderer has taken the head, a hand or a foot of the late Dagomba king to insult the tribe.However the severed head and hand of the king were returned to the Yendi District Hospital Morgue where the body was kept.

The burial of the king finally took place on Monday 10 April 2006. The king was given a state burial in the royal musuleum at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi.The elder son of the king was enskined as the Regent of Dagbon on the 21st of April 2006 to manage the affairs of the kingdom until the final funeral rites when a new Yaa Naa will be enskined. The traditional title of the Regent is Kampakuya Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andani.His suceeder is Yaa naa Abdulai Yakubu.On 29th 2011, a court in Accra acquitted and discharged 15 persons were accused of murdering the Ya-Naa. This sparked violent protests in the Dagbon Kingdom.