By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Feb. 28, GNA – Nana Abena Gyamfua II, the Paramount Queenmother of Assin Atandansu Traditional Area of the Central Region, has appealed to the Regional House of Chiefs to speed up the adjudication of chieftaincy disputes in the area to aid development.
The slow adjudication, she said, had created tension and insecurity as some people had sidestepped the law with impunity and stifled development and social cohesion.
Nana Gyamfua made the appeal at a briefing on a burgeoning chieftaincy conflict at Assin Atandansu in the Assin South District due to the installation of a paramount chief for the area, amidst the brandishing of weapons allegedly by some military personnel at Assin Nyankumasi to scare the people away.
She said on Wednesday, January 11, some fully armed military personnel, under the guard of one Brigadier General Augustine Asiedu, stormed Nyankumasi, the traditional capital.
They surrounded the palace and fired some warning shots to scare off people, keeping many in-doors, she said, and appealed to stakeholders to intervene to forestall chaos.
Speaking on behalf of the Asinie Royal Family of Nyankumasi-Ahenkro, Lt. Col Nicholas Andrew Otoo (Rtd), recounted how few supporters and some family members, led by Nana Kofi Yeboah, a Regent of Assin Kyinaso, a sub-stool of Assin Atandansu (ATA), allegedly performed rituals throughout the night to install Brig Gen Asiedu as the Omanhene.
“Thereafter, Brig Gen Asiedu was paraded on the streets with “seense” (grass) in his mouth and “nyanyina” around his neck amidst gunshots.
The Judicial Committee of the Central Regional House of Chiefs on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, made an Order of Interim Injunction restraining, “Brigadier General Asiedu from holding himself out as the paramount chief of ATA,” inter alia other restraining orders.
Two chieftaincy petitions and two applications for injunctions were pending at the Regional House of Chiefs, aimed at declaring Brigadier General Asiedu’s status as omanhene ‘null and void’.
“There are also two Law Suits; interlocutory injunction pending before the High Court in Cape Coast against Asiedu from holding himself out as paramount chief,” Lt. Col Otoo (rtd) said.
Regardless of the lawful processes, which he did not follow, Brig Gen Asiedu was alleged to be pushing through with the processing of a Chieftaincy Declaration Form (CDF) to obtain the entry of his name in the National Register of Chiefs.
Nonetheless, setting the records straight, Lt Col (rtd) Otoo indicated that the Principal members of the Gyamfua House of the Asinie Clan of Nyankumasi-Ahenkro, the kingmakers, had declared that Brig Gen Asiedu “is not and cannot be the paramount chief of the area,” and could not comprehend why he was using force to install himself.
He, therefore, described the action as an assault on the chieftaincy institution that constitute a threat to that State Institution, which, if not checked immediately, would erode any respect and dignity of the institution.
Lt Col (Rtd) Otoo called on the Ghana Armed Forces to hold the “arms” of soldiers who use the colour of their uniform to bulldoze their way into the corridors of chieftaincy.
GNA