Correspondence from Eastern Region

The Adontenhene of the Akuapem Traditional Council, Otobour Djan Kwasi, has stated that chieftaincy issues in Okuapeman is still riddled with misunderstanding as the Queen Mother of the Area is still litigating against the newly installed Paramount Chief, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo II.

Addressing the media at Akropong after an annual Traditional Council meeting, Otobour Djan Kwasi, who is also the Aburihene, emphasised that the Queen Mother was still peeved and unappeased with all the pleas made to her and for that matter was not letting sleeping dogs lie.

“Recently, you heard we had installed Okuapehene which was nice but you realised when we met as a Traditional Council, the (Paramount) Chief was not in our midst. He should have been part and chaired the meeting but it was not so because he has not been gazetted yet.

“So, if anyone says we are done with installation and that there is no more issue, no, there is still an issue. The issue is that the Queen Mother is still unsettled at heart. And we the elders ought to take steps to talk to her.

“Firstly, her car has been burnt, secondly, her house has been set ablaze. Moreover, the verdict given by the court saying that the family should nominate a candidate and present him to the Queen Mother to install chief, was not adhered to.

“Even after installing the chief, he was not introduced to her and she is still peeved about all these and it is not good. You do not do to others what you would not want done to you. So, you can see that she is still dragging issues and that is why we the elders of Akuapem – Adonten, Nifa, Benkum, Gyaase and Kronti- these five divisions form the whole Akuapem and we have agreed to take steps to talk to the Queen and apologise to her.

“Just as Nana Addo (the President of Ghana) came here recently, I stood before the gathering and told him that there is still an issue; if we say there is no issue, then, it is untrue. There is still an issue,” Nana Otobour Gyan Kwasi said.

According to the Adontenhene, an initial process has been taken to meet the Queen about a month ago and also met the family that nominated the paramount chief.

He added that the elders would meet with the kingmakers and “We hope that after all these steps, everything will fall in place.”

“We pray to God to be with us. Chieftaincy is like that. It cannot be without eventuality. We will not also sit idle and watch things to spoil to set a bad precedence. It is the prerogative of the Queen to install a chief. Everywhere, the Queen’s role is to install a chief.

“We still can talk to the Queen to forgive so that the next time we meet at a Traditional Council meeting, they (the Queen and the Chief) will be part,” he added.

Otobour Gyan Kwasi advised the youth and some adults in Akuapem to cease the teasing and the casting of aspersions on the Queen Mother so the elders can easily settle the matter once and for all.

Other salient issues discussed at the Annual Traditional Council meeting included the Odwira Festival and public education on COVID-19 throughout Akuapem.

The Traditional Council decided that due to COVID-19 and in bid to adhere to the protocols put in place to check the spread of it, there would not be a durbar to celebrate this year’s Odwira festival.

He said, however, that, as a way of celebrating the 2020 Odwira festival, the Council had decided to take the opportunity to embark on a mass education on the COVID-19 to stop the spread of it in Akuapem.