The Agona Royal Family of Akyem Kotoku at Akyem Oda in the Eastern Region has kicked against Daily Graphic reportage that the Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council has been able to resolve the 25-year old chieftaincy dispute that had halted the activities of the council.
The Royal Family at Oda says such reportage is a lie and should be disregarded by the respected readers of the newspaper.
The Royal Family at Oda wants the general public to know that they are not in dispute with the Traditional Council. Rather, the dispute is between Dr Joseph Kyei Mintah whose claim to being a member of the Royal family is being challenged by the family.
The Queenmother , Nana Akua Asantewaa , who employed the services of the military and the police to force the enstoolment of Dr Kyei Minta in 1999, is also accused of breaching the custom and tradition of Akyem Kotoku.
The above stated issues and other cases related toKyei Minta’s registration and gazetting are still pending before various High Courts and the Judicial Committee of Eastern Regional House of Chiefs at Koforidua.
The Daily Graphic in its front-page reportage on Tuesday, August 15,2023, with the headline “After 25 years of litigation……Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council members reconcile” explained that the Akyem Kotoku Traditional Council last Thursday met for the first time in 25 years, due to a protracted chieftaincy dispute that halted the activities of the Council. Last Thursday’s event attracted more than 400 divisional and sub-chiefs, kingmakers, elders and some Queenmothers who expressed excitement about the ceremony, with some of them shedding tears of joy that at long last, the chieftaincy dispute had ended”.
But reacting to the publication, the Head of the Royal Agona Family of Akyem Kotoku (Akyem Oda), Nana Emmanuel Ofori Atta said “this is not true. The report is a complete and utter distortion of the facts on the ground. He said the dispute is between the Royal Agona Family and Joseph Kyei Minta whose claim to royalty is being challenged. Although we have been in court for nearly 25 years, Kyei Minta has not been able to prove that he is a member of the Royal Agona Family. In fact, he has been in court only once since the case started.” Nana Ofori Atta said “also his forced installation breaches the custom and tradition of Akyem Kotoku, and therefore the Chieftaincy Act’s definition of a chief”.
The Chieftaincy Act defines a chief as “a person, who hailing from the appropriate family and lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled, enskinned or installed as a chief or queenmother in accordance with the relevant customary law and usage”. The Head of the family stated“
Kyei Minta does not meet any part of this definition, and that’s why we are in court”.
The Head of the Family stated further that “the membership of the Traditional Council is not up to 400 anyway, and the chiefs attending the meeting does not mean that there is a reconciliation between the Royal Family and Kyei Minta.
Nana Ofori Atta explained that the reason why the chiefs attended the meeting was the fear that if they refused to attend they would be destooled, as Kyei Minta now has a gazette”
There is a feeling among the people that gross injustice has been done to the Riyal Agona Family.
These feelings are based on the following facts:
(a) The case against Kyei Minta is still pending before the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, and has not yet been determined.
(b) There is also a pending appeal before the Kumasi High Court, following an attempt by the National House of Chiefs to register him. The appeal was filed when an injunction application to stop the registration was thrown out by the High Court in Kumasi.
(c) The process used in registering Kyei Minta as the Paramount Chief of Akyem Kotoku was not in line with the rules laid down by the Chieftaincy Act, and therefore fraudulent. Nana Ofori Atta said “there are generally feelings of sadness and dejection, particularly among the people of Oda, emanating from the suspicion that the Government has imposed Kyei Minta upon us as our chief.
The point about government involvement is evidenced by the use of the Police in brutalising and
intimidating the youth and anybody opposing the imposition of Kyei Minta upon us. Five (5) of the youth are currently in police custody awaiting court trial”.
He said “using the police to brutalise and intimidate your opponents does not constitute reconciliation; and if the suspicion that the Government has a hand in the imposition of Kyei Minta upon us is true, then our motto of FREEDOM AND JUSTICE is in serious trouble.”