Kunkpanu (Northern Region), 8 Dec. ’98 – The Yendi district chief executive, Mr Mohammed Alhassan, has cautioned farmers in the district to disregard rumours of an impending ethnic conflict in the area. He described the rumours as baseless and only calculated to create panic among the rural communities to get them to sell their farm produce at give away prices. Addressing a durbar of the chiefs and people of Kunkpanu and surrounding villages at Kunkpanu, Mr. Alhassan advised them to concentrate on their farming activities. He said they should not sell food they have stored for the lean season on the basis of the ”misinformation,” because the security agencies are alert and will deal with people who would like to destabilise the district for their selfish interests. Mr. Alhassan asked the people to pool their resources to solve what he called ”the common problems of ignorance, poverty and disease which militate against development”. The chief of Kunkpanu, Na Abukari Mahama, said Kunkpanu and its nine neighbouring communities have only three primary schools with most of the classes without teachers. He said in one of the communities, Buarunyili, the only teacher is paid through voluntary contribution by the villagers.
