Chaos in Akuse: Police Fire Shots During Victory Celebrations

Victory celebrations by residents of Manya Krobo following the resolution of a long standing legal dispute over the boundaries of Akuse have degenerated into chaos. Reports indicate that Residents of Manya Krobo have clashed with a deployment of Akuse police. The residents, intent on converging in Akuse for massive victory celebrations have met with strong resistance by the police who are bent on preventing them from doing so. Narrating the ongoing fracas, to Citifmonline, President of Krobo Youth Group; Kloma Gbi, Philip Tetteh Padi said the police are warding off incursions by Manya Krobo residents into Akuse by firing teargas and warning gunshots. �There is chaos at the place as I speak to you right now because the police are preventing the people of Manya Krobo from entering the town (Akuse) with teargas and warning shots but the people are also bent on moving in at all cost, so they are in full force and are also pushing the police gradually into Akuse�, Philip reported. He said the police were insistent on preventing the planned victory celebrations because they claim there was an issue with security but the celebrants did not see eye to eye with them, �and that is the cause of the whole problem�. It will be recalled that the chiefs and people of the Manya Krobo Traditional area decided to congregate in Akuse, Saturday July 21 to celebrate their recent victory in the long standing boundary dispute which had engulfed Akuse and its surrounding communities. The celebration was slated to take place at Post Office Square at the center of the Akuse Township amidst rich cultural performances under the auspice of Nene Sakite II, Konor (Paramount Chief) of the Manya Krobo Traditional among others. The intended celebratory spectacle was aimed at stamping the authority of the Manya Krobo State over Akuse and provide the platform for the chiefs to set the record straight on the history, location and ownership of Akuse and its allied settlements. It followed the declaration as unconstitutional- by a nine-member panel of the Supreme Court on June 13, the Legislative Instrument which sought to illegally place Akuse and some communities in the Dangme West District in the Greater Accra Region. In 2010, a Parliamentary Sub Legislating Committee in an attempted re-demarcation exercise and acting on the Local Government (Creation of New District Electoral Areas and Designation of Units) Instrument, 2010 (LI 1983) realigned some Electoral Areas � Zongo New Town, Akutue, Osukutu, Bungalow, Amedeka, Salon and Natriku- at Akuse, originally part of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region to Danmge West (Now Shai Osudoku) in the Greater Accra Region. The exercise sparked off a chain of legal battles leading to the suspension of some national events which were supposed to have taken place in the area including the Biometric Voter Registration exercise (ongoing at the moment) as well as the District Assembly Elections which is currently pending in the entire municipality. Chairman of the Planning Committee, Nene Okpatapkla Sasraku IV, had said earlier, �Now that the Supreme Court has given its final verdict, we are coming out to retell the history to clear the misconception about the ownership and location of Akuse and the surrounding communities�. �It is not necessarily about celebrating the victory because Akuse has always been for Krobos and its retention in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality was expected; we are mainly going there to assert our authority over the place and to set the records straight for Ghanaians to know�.