A chieftaincy dispute in Kwahu-Pepease in the Kwahu East District of the Eastern Region is threatening to get out of hand and drag the good name of the Ghana Police Service into the mud. At Kwahu-Pepease, the queenmother, Nana Oforiwa Pokuah II and her family are said to have been in a protracted chieftaincy dispute with the Chief of the area, Nana Bonsu Ayiripa Ababio II, as to who-is-who in the area.
The Queenmother and members of the Santase Bretuo family of Kwahu-Pepease, said to be the legitimate owners of the Kyedom Stool, have declared openly that they do not recognise Nana Ababio II as the legitimate chief of the area, since his enstoolment.
Last Saturday at the funeral ground in Kwahu-pepease, when the Chief and his entourage arrived there at about 3:30pm, all the people present stood up to pay homage. The Queenmother and members of her family, who had arrived earlier, true to their vow, refused to stand up.
Additionally, the Queenmother’s followers allegedly started raining unprintable insults on the Chief and his elders without any provocation. Expectedly, the followers of the Chief and his elders, unhappy with the development, confronted the Queenmother’s followers, which degenerated into a free for all fight, with scores of people sustaining various degrees of injuries.
Following the fracas, the police in the town arrested some of the supporters of the Queenmother and took them to the police station, allegedly via Chief Ababio’s palace, for some alleged extra judicial humiliation.
Queenmother Pokuah II has subsequently accused the police of unbecoming bias against her and her supporters, always allegedly aligning themselves with the followers of Nana Ayiripa Ababio II, anytime there was a misunderstanding between the two groups.
Nana Oforiwa Pokuah II has, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, to call his men to order, to avoid the situation where as a result of their actions, the police officers who are supposed to keep the peace in the area would rather end up throwing it out of gear.
Now, The Chronicle is baffled as to why in the 21st Century, Ghana with a National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and Traditional Councils, funded from the national purse, as well as paramountcies dotted all over the place, we still have chieftaincy disputes at Kwahu-Pepease in the Eastern Region and Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.
What are the National, Regional houses of Chiefs and the traditional Councils doing about settling these petty chieftaincy disputes? Or have the various members in these supposedly august houses of traditional authority been bought over and corrupted by the various factions in the disputes?
All stools and skins have clear lines of succession which any honest broker can trace and actualize. We do not see why the chieftaincy institution in Ghana cannot do so. It is a disgrace to say the least. Consequently resources of the Ghana Police Service are wasted in controlling misbehaving adults and keeping them away from each other’s throat.
The chieftaincy institution should wake, if it wants to retain its divine-ordained respect. A word to the wise!
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