Some members of the Ashiem family in the Offinso community have performed rituals in the Offin stream to call on various deities to del with the kingmakers and elders of the town.
The incident is coming on the back of the rejection of Dr K. K, Sarpong as the nominated Chief of Offinso by Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
According to the youth, they have been treated wrongly by elders of the town who recently performed rituals to invoke curses against them for registering their displeasure for the rejection of Dr K. K. Sarpong.
“We are members of the Ashiem family who have come to you today with sadness and grief to beseech you because of our kinsman, K. K. Sarpong who has been nominated as the Chief of Offinso. Whoever amongst the elders and kingmakers who have ever received any payment from him, whoever has had an agreement with him but have since gone back on their word is the one we are bringing to you to deal with,” a group member said in a video of the ritual.
Among other things, they slaughtered a lamb and a fowl, and also poured schnapps into the stream while smashing a number of eggs into the stream amidst the invocation of several deities.
They accused the elders of putting up a double act by agreeing to Dr K. K. Sarpong’s nomination in Offinso while failing to defend same in the presence of Otumfuo at the Manhyia Palace.
In a recent viral video, elders of Offinso were captured in a video, casting a spell on some indigenes believed to have made derogatory remarks against them (the elders), as well as the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Some residents of Offinso, particularly the youth, had expressed their displeasure over the rejections of the nomination of the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. K. K. Sarpong, as the Paramount Chief of Offinso (Offinso Manhene), using very strong words against the elders and the Asantehene.
The elders who described the actions of the youth as abominable went ahead to perform rituals invoking curses on their heads.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on April 28, 2022, days before his departure to the United States, turned down a request from Offinsohemaa Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko to accept Dr. K. K. Sarpong as her choice to ascend the Offinso stool, telling her to go and do the right thing as demanded by the traditional and the customary protocols.
The kingmakers of the Offinso Traditional Area chose the former GNPC boss to succeed the late Paramount Chief of Offinso, Nana Wiafe Akenten II.
In reaction to this, some youth of Offinso described the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as an autocratic leader who is overstepping his traditional powers in the seeming chieftaincy dispute in the area.