Dagbon Reels as Kingdom Loses Two Senior Chiefs in Quick Succession

Dagbon’s traditional leadership structure has been dealt a rare double blow, with the death of the Paramount Chief of Tolon, Major (Rtd) Sulemana Abubakari, coming just days after the passing of the Overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Abubakari Mahama II.
The near-simultaneous loss of the kingdom’s paramount ruler and one of its most senior military-linked chiefs has left the traditional area facing an unusually heavy period of mourning — and raised questions about the road ahead for Dagbon’s leadership hierarchy.
A Defence Chief’s Legacy
The Tolon Naa was no ordinary chief within Dagbon’s structure. Traditionally recognised as the kingdom’s defence chief, he held a role rooted in Dagbon’s historical military organisation, with responsibility for mobilising warriors and defending the kingdom in times past. That he carried this traditional title alongside a real military record — having served as an escort officer to Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, before retiring as a Major in the Ghana Armed Forces — gave his chieftaincy a distinctive weight within the hierarchy.
Born in 1943 at Tali, he was the first son of the late Tolon Naa Alhassan Sulemana. His path to the skin was gradual: he served as Regent of Tolon for 18 years from 2001, following his father’s death, before being formally enskinned as substantive Tolon Naa in 2019 — fittingly, by the very Yaa Naa whose own death he now follows in mourning.
Two Losses, One Kingdom
The timing of the two deaths — the kingdom’s overlord and one of its senior traditional-military chiefs, within days of each other — has compounded the sense of loss across the Dagbon Traditional Area, with communities now confronting mourning rites for both leaders at once.
Final rites for the Tolon Naa are expected to follow Islamic and Dagbon customary practice, with traditional authorities to announce funeral arrangements in due course. Attention will now turn to how Dagbon’s traditional institutions manage the succession and continuity of leadership across both stools in the period ahead.