Kwaku Ansa-Asare
Lawyer Kwaku Ansa-Asare, Counsel for Nana Afua Nketia Obuo II, the Paramount Queen mother of Okuapeman Traditional Council in the Eastern Region, has expressed concern about some comments purportedly made by President Akufo-Addo during a courtesy call on embattled Okuapehene last week.
President Akufo-Addo on October 6, 2021, as part of his three-day tour of the Eastern Region, paid a courtesy call on Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo II and said Akropong being his hometown, he owes it a duty to bring finality to the chieftaincy dispute in Okuapeman.
The President reportedly said the dispute will be resolved for the Okuapehene to be accepted and gazetted just as he has achieved in Yendi and Ga Traditional areas.
Odehye Kwadwo Kesse Antwi, 35, who goes by the title Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo II, and Odehyie Kwasi Akuffo, a 63-year-old retired journalist and businessman are both claiming they are the rightful individuals to succeed Oseadeeyo Nana Addo Dankwa III who ruled for 41 years and died seven years ago.
The Paramount Queen mother Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II and a faction in Sakyiabea Royal family who proposed the 63-year-old Odehyie Kwasi Akuffo, are still litigating that laid down traditional processes were not duly followed during the installation of Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo II, hence the installation in their view is null and void.
They are battling him at the law court and the House of Chiefs at the same time.
Lawyer Ansa-Asare on Monday, October 11, 2021, after court proceedings held at the Koforidua High Court, described the statement by President Akufo-Addo as ‘unwarranted’ and ‘unpresidential.’
“As a lawyer, the President’s attention must be drawn to the fact that finality of the legal dispute rests with the judiciary, not the executive. That I consider being an inappropriate remark for which the President must apologise,” he said.
He said, the statement has the tendency to worsen Okuapeman chieftaincy dispute, adding that, his clients may be compelled to petition appropriate bodies if the President fails to retract his statement within 14 days.
“I will take the matter up to the Council of State, the Judicial Council, and National House of Chiefs because these are the three institutions that have directly come under siege as a result of the President’s unwarranted remarks. The remarks were unprecedented and unpresidential,” he added.
“I see the President comment as inappropriate and for that matter, he must apologise to Ghanaians because he subscribed to the oath to defend the constitution and what he has done is just bringing the constitution and the judiciary under siege and that’s my concern. He owes a duty to apologise to fellow Ghanaians and the world at large,” the Counsel noted.
Lawyer Ansa-Asare also said they did not subscribe to the President’s purported request to the Aburihene to ensure that the dispute in Akropong is resolved amicably.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua