Queenmother Turned Away

Mills Shames Queen Mother The chieftaincy institution suffered a serious embarrassment last Saturday at Kyebi in the Eastern Region during the Okyehene�s 10th coronation anniversary when a queen mother was disgracefully turned away by state protocol from greeting the president. Nana Araba Otua and Nana Ama Amissah had a clash for recognition at the durbar grounds when the two elderly women were introduced by the MC in separate sequence as queen mother of the Mankessim Traditional Area. Nana Araba Otua who was humbled and humiliated by the state protocol, had stormed the durbar at the Ofori Payin File half way through the programme at the time the president, the Okyehene and other prominent chiefs, including invited dignitaries were all seated. She was spotted in her rich regalia, wearing designers� sunglass and was being followed by a cultural troupe amidst drumming and dancing. After a short protocol formality by the MC with the �queen mother�, she was announced publicly to proceed to exchange pleasantries with President John Evans Atta Mills and other dignitaries. but as she move closer to the presidential dais, the unexpected happened when the queen mother was stopped from moving further and after holding her in check for about three minutes by the state protocol, she was turned off disappointedly without going near the president. The incident draws situation towards the queen mother as she abandoned the rest of the dignitaries she had intended to greet and walked back regrettably to where the chiefs and their queen mothers were seated. After hanging around for some few minutes, she was eventually allocated a seat to cool herself from the scorching sun. The confusion in protocol arrangement continued when the MDC, Nana Adjei SikaPa of Peace Fm announced again in a short while that the legitimate queen mother of Mankessim was already seated by acknowledging her name. However, when The Chronicle contacted the MDC about the mishap in the acknowledging for the two queen mothers, he admitted the flaws, saying �I couldn�t make who the real queen mother was, a name was given to me and I mentioned it�. Moreover, Nana Ama Amissah in an interview said, �I was embarrassed about the incident because I was dully invited by the Okyenhene through a three member delegation led by the chief of Akyem Enyiresi, Barma kyei Osafo Kantanka who came to Mankessim with a schnapp to formally invite me to attend the anniversary�. Barima Kyei Osafo Kantanka in addition to the queen mother assertion, confirmed to the New Crusading Guide that he knew nothing of any disputes between the two queen mothers saying, �I was asked to invite the paramount chief of Mankessim and his queen mother whom we know they had been gazzetted by the National House of Chiefs�. When asked in what capacity then did Nana Araba Otua attended the durbar, the chief indicated that he also put the same question to the queen mother after demanding her invitation, and advised her not to mar the beauty of the occasion with her unwelcome antics. Meanwhile, Nana Araba Otua had also reacted on the incident to redeem her image that, she was personally invited by the Okyehene with a VVIP status. Nana Tafohene, Osabarima Adusa Peasah IV who spoke on behalf of the queen mother intimidated the displeasure of the Okyenhene towards the disgustful incident, stressing that, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Payin had summoned a meeting among his elders to find out what might cause the mishap in protocol. Nana Tafohene, who was the chairman of the anniversary planning committee indicated that, �what happened was not immediately noticed by some of us and also we did not intend to delve into any chieftaincy matters during the occasion�.