Decade old tensions brewing between Okyehene and Adoagyirihene which nearly resulted in violent confrontations recently over the former’s resolve to install a rival chief in Adoagyiri, have lately tapered into advancing cogent facts by each side to support their causes.
The Okyehene and his State Council have been ranting about installing a new chief in Adoagyiri; a move which has been resisted with fierce contention.
State secretary of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council, D.M Ofori Atta, held a press conference on the 13th March, 2023 at Ofori Panin Fie in the Eastern Region of Ghana and made several claims almost all of which have been found to be palpable lies.
And this afternoon, Barima Nana Arkoh-Frempong Oware, spokesperson for the youth of Adoagyiri, in a press conference, adduced evidence to rebut the claims of D.M Ofori-Atta of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council on the position and standing of Okoanadwo Afutu Dompre II the Adoagyirihene relative to chieftaincy in Ghana and Akyem Abuakwa History.
We have reproduced portions of the press statement with limited editing for your perusal.
We make reference to the press conference organized by the state secretary of Akyem Abuakwa traditional council, D.M Ofori Atta, held on the 13th March, 2023 at Ofori Panin Fie in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In the said press conference, he referred to the eminent chief of Adoagyiri as the so called Okoanadwo, with name calling and other unprintable words. In fact, it is most unfortunate for a state secretary to speak in such a manner without decorum. We take a very strong exception to such a behavior.
As a state secretary to a traditional council (Secretary), at least our culture dictates that we should respect the elderly, and by this behavior, we wonder the kind of model he expects the younger ones to learn from him.
We would like to make it clear, that, we are law-abiding citizens of this country, and that, The Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs on the 2nd February, 2022 with suit number- JC/ERHC/AP1/2008 gave legitimacy and confirmed Okoanadwo Afutu Dompreh II as Chief of Adoagyiri and Ankobeahene of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council, so on what bases is the state secretary and Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council saying that Kotoku Adoagyiri has no chief?
The youth of Kotoku Adoagyiri would like to set the records straight that the statement made by D.M Ofori Atta, State secretary to Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council is untrue and was done with the sole aim of discrediting the reign of Okoanadwo Afutu Dompreh II to achieve his parochial interest. We therefore call on the general public and citizens of Akyem Kotoku State to decline such needless and baseless statement by the Akyem Abuakwa state secretary.
historical facts;
1. Adoagyiri has since historical times been part of Akyem Kotoku. It falls directly under the Gyase Division and holds the title Ankobeahene of Akyem kotoku traditional council from the first chief Nana Dompreh Mpesempese to date. Available records indicate that all substantive Adoagyiri chiefs have been part of the Akyem Kotoku State, including the records and evidence of Okoanadwo Adu korkoor II as chief of Adoagyiri and Ankoabehene of Akyem Kotoku State with gazette number “No-59” issued on 18th June, 1955 by the National House of Chiefs.
2. Nana Adu Korkor II was installed chief at Adoagyiri and sent to Akyem Kotoku to pay allegiance to the then acting President of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council Nana Abrokwa Gyampim I (Kontihene of Akyem Kotoku) in 1953 in the absence of the omanhene of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area.
3. Nana Adu Korkoor II and others had some misunderstanding with Nana Frimpong Manso III (Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area) and he and the others stopped attending regular meetings of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council in 1966 even though he occasionally did attend.
4. In the 1994 Odwira Festival of the chiefs and people of Akyem Kotoku, in the brochure printed to celebrate the festival, Nana Adu Korkor II was captured.
5. When he died in 2007, the family printed a cloth with the inscriptions: “Ankobeahene of Akyem Kotoku” to mourn his demise.
6. There has never been a record or evidence of the title “Barima Adu Korkoor II” in the books of Adoagyiri Stool nor in the records of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council but rather Okoanadwo Adu Korkoor as chief of Adoagyiri and Ankobeahene of Akyem Kotoku.
7. What has the Abuakwa state been doing since 8th November, 2007 when Okoanadwo Afutu Dompreh II sworn the oath of allegiance to Kotokuhene, Oseadeayo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV?
8. The reference that Barima Adu Korkoor II sworn oath of allegiances to Akyem Abuakwahene is both criminal and a distortion of facts. It is on record, that Okoanadwo Adu Korkoor was the Ankobeahene of Akyem Kotoku state and Chief of Adoagyiri. We therefore call on the Abuakwa State Secretary to go back and learn his history well.
9. All records in Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council clearly indicate that Kotoku Adoagyiri has three eminent chiefs, namely Ankoabeahene, Adontenhene and Akyeamehene of Akyem Kotoku State.
10. We would like to put on record that Okoanadwo Afutu Dompreh II is the current occupant of the Dompreh Mpesempese stool and Ankobeahene of Akyem Kotoku state.
10. If Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin says he is the over lord of Adoagyiri, where was he when an injunction was placed on the funeral rites of the late Okoanadwo Adu Korkoor II ? Where was he when the matter was later taken to Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council even as the family of the late Chief pleaded to the Anima Afra family to remove the injunction from the High Court of Koforidua ?
11.It was never true that an injunction was placed on the festival which was celebrated this year; it was rather the Thanksgiving service of the festival which the Municipal Security Committee called an emergency meeting to call off the program for security reasons due to the letter brought by Akyem Abuakwa to install a rival chief in Adoagyiri.
12. By the logic of the State secretary’s own analogy, we would like to know if for instance a group of Togolese or any other tribe settles on a land and decides to select a chief or leader to rule them, does it take a different chief to choose and enstool his preferred man or it is the people who decide who should be their leader?
13. By the same analogy, when people settle on a land, do they have to abandon their cultural practices and follow another culture as in the case of Abuakwa trying to force the people of Kotoku decent to become Abuakwa people by hook or crook?
14. Furthermore, in Ghana here, are the rules of Abuakwa superior to the 1992 constitution? What is the CULTURAL RIGHTS AND PRACTICES 26(1) which STATES THAT ‘every person is entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion subject to the provisions of the constitution.’ doing on our books?.
We would like to state emphatically that, Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council and Adoagyiri will not allow any installation of any new Chief in Adoagyiri by Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council, and any attempt by any chief to hide behind any state institution to commit this injustice will be resisted by the people and the consequences thereof will not be pleasant for all.
Now, we call on the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, The Inspector General of Police, Ministry of National security, National Investigations Bureau, Eastern Regional Minister, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious affairs, Ministry of interior, Ministry of Defense, National House of Chiefs and the Peace Council to intervene as a matter of urgency to maintain sanity in Kotoku Adoagyiri and its environs since we cherish the relative peace that we are enjoying.- the statement said.
At this juncture, state actors must act fast to resolve this impasse before it degenerates into violent clashes as Adoagyiri remains adamant towards ceding a portion of its lands to Akyem Abuakwa.
Jeffery Jones
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