Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo
A high court in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, has thrown out a contempt application filed against some prominent members of the Akuapem Akropong royal family, including the Okuapenhemaa, in the chieftaincy dispute in the area.
The court, presided over by Justice Cecilia Naa Shormeh Davis, said the Okuapenhemaa, Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II and 12 others had not defied a court injunction which was restraining both factions – who are struggling over who should succeed the late Okuapenhene, Oseadeeyo Nana Addo Dankwah III, – from engaging in any chieftaincy activities.
Dismissing the suit, the judge quoted a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice SA Brobbey’s book on chieftaincy and referred to Act 131 which states that an “outdoored chief is supposed to be paraded through the principal streets of the town or possibly ride in a palanquin.”
She held that, “…and all these things were absent to prove that the New Okuapenhene-elect has been outdoored.”
The judge said after studying all the relevant authorities and procedures in the statutes, there was nowhere that the eminent people brought before her had committed contempt of court.
The judge also claimed that the Attorney General’s Department was not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused persons had committed any offence for which they should be committed to prison for contempt.
The court therefore, dismissed all the contempt charges against the queen mother and her team over the advertisements in both the electronic and the print media as well as banners announcing the Okuapenhene-elect.
A contempt motion was filed by the Attorney General’s Department in Koforidua to stop the Okuapenhemaa from performing her role in the processes leading to the installation of the Okuapenhene-elect.
The queen mother had settled on Odehyie Kwasi Akuffo, a 63-year-old retired journalist for installation as the new Okuapenhene, but another group from the same Sakyeabea royal family preferred Nana Kese and both were said to have been processed simultaneously to be installed paramount chief, thereby creating tension at Akropong.
Odehyie Kwasi Akuffo was subsequently given the stool name Nana Oboubi Atiemo II as the Okuapenhene-elect.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua