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President John Evans Atta Mills�s just-ended visit to the Eastern Region has been beclouded by a protocol breach when he failed to call on the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin as his first port of call, when he visited the latter�s kingdom. The snub has attracted an assortment of negative reactions from citizens of Okyeman, who think the President has slighted their chief. Information gathered by Daily Guide suggests that even though the programme prepared ahead of the visit placed a courtesy call on the Okyenhene, the President�s minders including Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, ignored the visit to the Okyenhene�s palace to pay a courtesy call on him. As the most powerful chief in the area, protocol demands that the President calls on him first, after which both parties would proceed to the project site for the official engagement to take place, Daily Guide learnt. At a point, the Okyenhene was asked to proceed to a durbar ground at Adukrom near Kyebi, but he declined since that was certainly a deviation from traditional norms. The Okyenhene however dispatched representatives to the venue to join the President at Abuakwa State College for the commissioning of a 6-classroom block. The alternative arrangement was itself not without controversy, with the Tafohene�s remarks, which he later explained was a misinterpretation by a section of the media, suggesting that Okyeman had endorsed the second term bid of President Atta Mills. Osabarima Adusei Peasah, the Akyem Tafohene, was quoted by some newspapers to have endorsed the President�s bid since that would ensure that many more projects would come to the area. The Tafohene spent a lot of time on the airwaves distancing himself from what he termed as the peddling of falsehood and misquotation of his words, which were not the view of Okyeman. In a swift intervention following the cacophony generated by the so-called endorsement of President Mills, Okyeman distanced itself from the Tafohene�s statement. According to a statement issued from Okyenhene�s palace, signed by Abodeesahene and Chief of Staff, Barima Yentumi Boaman, Okyeman has not made any endorsement of the President especially since chiefs are not supposed to make such utterances. �I wish to bring to the attention of the general public that Okyeman has NOT made any such decision and as chiefs are not supposed to be involved in party politics, we will not make any such decision,� it said. An offended group in Okyeman, in a reaction to what they described as a snub of their King, explained that �a slight on the Okyenhene is not only a slight on the people of Akyem Abuakwa but the Eastern Region and the chieftaincy institution of the country in general.� Continuing, the grouping noted that �this is not the first time that the President has publicly snubbed a traditional ruler. First it was the Ga Mantse and now the Okyenhene and we would not be surprised when it gets to the Asantehene or any other prominent chief.� They advised the President not to consider the Okyenhene as his political opponent, explaining that even though the NPP flagbearer is a royal son of the Ofori Panin Palace, �there is no time when the Okyenhene declared support for him. �Never in the history of Okyeman had any President treated the Okyenhene with such contempt right at his backyard than what we witnessed with the presidency.� Going down memory lane, the statement explained that this is not the first time that the President has shown disrespect to Okyeman, pointing out that in October 2009, when the President, after initially agreeing to attend the inauguration of the University College of Agriculture and Environment at Bunso, declined to show up at the eleventh hour. The second time, they stated, was when under the President�s watch, a shooting incident took place by soldiers close to the Ofori Panin Fie, with no apology from the Head of State as courtesy demands. �These incidents give credence to the assertion that the President wants to denigrate Okyeman,� they added.