Nana Kwasi Agyeman (middle) with some chiefs of Lower Dixcove addressing the press conference
The Omanhene of the Lower Dixcove Traditional Area in the Western Region, Nana Kwasi Agyeman IX, has called for a ceasefire in the recent disturbances that occurred in the area. The Omanhene said that he was ever ready to dialogue with his Upper Dixcove counterpart, Nana Obrempong Hima Dekyi XIV, to discuss matters so as to bring peace to the entire Dixcove and to Ahantaland.
He stated that the chiefs and people of Lower Dixcove would resolutely cooperate with the King of Ahanta, Otumfuor Baidoo Bonsu XV, and with any other relevant stakeholders, and would mediate on thorny issues existing between himself and the Upper Dixcove Chief, to help bring lasting peace to the area.
It would be recalled that recently, some club-wielding youth, armed with offensive implements and suspected to have come from Lower Dixcove, clashed with the youth from Upper Dixcove. In the process, the mother of the Omanhene of the Upper Dixcove Traditional Area, together with a sub-chief, and some relatives of the said chief, were seriously attacked.
The sub-chief, whose name was given as Nana Diako Kra, was said to have been stripped naked by the attackers and made to walk through the streets of Upper Dixcove, before being finally subjected to severe beatings. The victims had been attacked when they attempted to visit a disputed piece of land at Torome in Upper Dixcove, which both the people and the chief of Lower Dixcove were claiming ownership.
Prior to that clash, a similar incident had occurred in 2019 at Lower Dixcove, during which the Paramount Chief of the Lower Dixcove Traditional Area, Nana Kwasi Agyeman IX, was subjected to severe beatings, stripped naked and abducted by assailants from Upper Dixcove. Monday’s incident therefore appeared to have been a retaliatory move.
Immediately after the recent incident, Obrempong Dekyi of Upper Dixcove organised a press conference, condemning the clash and calling for President Akufo-Addo’s intervention in the rising land dispute tension that had cropped up between the two paramountcies of Upper and Lower Dixcove.
On Monday, March 22, 2021, the Omanhene of Lower Dixcove, Nana Kwasi Agyeman IX, also organised his press conference, during which he called on the people in the area to remain calm, regardless of the level of their provocation.
He, however, indicated: “We cannot deceptively preach peace and live a treacherous life that is not worthy of us. Let us revise our agenda; let us come and reason together; and I hope the peace and development we are all craving for will come, and we will finally live peacefully together.”
He debunked the assertion by Obrempong Hima Dekyi that the Torome area belonged to Upper Dixcove, and added that the issue was before the Judicial Committee of the Western Regional House of Chiefs for adjudication.
He appealed to Obrempong Hima Dekyi to exercise restraint and allow the Western Regional House of Chiefs to settle the matter amicably.
He said he had lived in peace with Obrempong Hima Dekyi’s predecessor, and that he had never engaged in any form of litigation with the late female chief, Nana Hima Dekyi XIII.
“I pray that the Upper Dixcove chief meant exactly what he said regarding the lasting peace he wants to bring to Dixcove,” he concluded, indicating that citizens of both Upper and Lower Dixcove were law-abiding, and that their communities were far greater than any inhabitant’s parochial interests.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi