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Some residents of two communities near Amasaman in Accra clashed over the sprinkling of their traditional food, kpoikpoi, during the celebration of this year�s Homowo Festival last Saturday. The residents in the two communities, Oshuman and Abeman, exchanged gunshots until the Amasaman Police intervened and restored calm in the early hours of last Saturday. No fatalities were recorded, though some residents were injured. The clashes occurred when one of the two communities, Oshuman, defied the order of the Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayibonte II, not to sprinkle kpoikpoi as part of the celebration of this year�s Homowo. The people of Abeman, apparently unhappy about the open defiance of the orders of the Gbese Mantse by the Oshuman community, attempted to stop them from doing so. The misunderstanding between the two communities degenerated into violence, which resulted in the exchange of gunfire. In the process, a Ford vehicle belonging to a resident in Abeman was vandalised. Two persons � one each from the communities � have been arrested by the police to help with investigations into the disturbances. Chieftaincy dispute Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Amasaman District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police, Mr George Andrew Kumah, said the police heard about the incident that Saturday and responded by detailing police personnel to the area to control the situation. He explained that the two communities, which pay allegiance to the Gbese Mantse, had for some years now been involved in a chieftaincy dispute. �Because of the chieftaincy dispute, Nii Ayibonte saw the need to place a ban on the Homowo celebration, and restrained them from sprinkling kpoikpoi on the streets in the communities this year.� Two arrested However, the chief and people of Oshuman were said to have defied the order of Nii Ayibonte and sprinkled the food last Saturday. �The people of Oshuman decided to go out and sprinkle kpoikpoi and in the course of doing so, the people of Abeman tried to stop them, which resulted in the clash,� said the Amasaman police commander. Mr Kumah added that the police managed to arrest leaders of the two sides as the groups fled when the police arrived at the scene. He also said the police had increased their presence in the two communities to forestall any problems.