Kwasi Peprah is still Ayanfuri Chief -Court declares

A CIRCUIT Court, presided over by His Honour, Mr. Eric Baah, has upheld that Odeneho Kwasi Peprah II was the duly gazetted chief of Ayanfuri.

The court, sitting at Dunkwa in the Central Region, said there was enough evidence, which indicated that the Nana Peprah, the plaintiff/respondent in the suit, was the chief of Ayanfuri.

The circuit court judge was giving his ruling in a case, in which Akwasi Amoah, one Ofori and Nana Boa Agyarko III, contended that Nana Peprah had no capacity to institute action on behalf of the Ayanfuri stool, against them for trespassing.

The court's verdict, delivered on May 13, 2008, was based on the affidavit in opposition of the plaintiff/respondent, who claimed that he was the legally recognized Chief of Ayanfuri, having tendered documents, which asserted his claim, that he was the legally recognized Chief of the Ayanfuri.

These documents included an extract from the National House of Chiefs, which indicated that he had been gazetted as the Chief of Ayanfuri, with serial number 1038, as well as a High Court order for certiorari and prohibition, and a ruling dismissing an application for stay of the order of certiorari and prohibition, pending an appeal lodged against the said order. Nana Peprah claimed that he was the accredited Chief of Ayanfuri, whose name had duly been entered in the National Register of Chiefs, with gazette No.1038, in accordance with section 48 of the Chieftaincy Act 370 of 1971, since January 8, 1984.

The co-defendants argued that one Nana Kwadwo Appiah III had been installed as the Ayanfurihene by the lawful kingmakers.

Facts adduced before the court, indicated that by the purported installation of the said Nana Appiah, the plaintiff Nana Peprah stood destooled.

The co-defendants, per a motion, stated that following the purported installation, their solicitors sought a clarification from the Overlord of Denkyira, Odeefour Boa Amponsem III, as to who was the occupant of the Ayanfuri stool.

As a result, the Denkyira Overlord was said to have declared Nana Appiah III as the occupant of the Ayanfuri Stool, and that the capacity of Nana Peprah was non-existent, which claim Nana Peprah discounted.

Nana Peprah said the letter, purported to have been written by the Denkyirahene, Odeefour Boa Amponsem III, in support of the claims of the co-defendants, that he had been destooled, did not confer any legal title or capacity, on Nana Kwadwo Appiah III.

The court declared, however, that since the appeal against the order for certiorari and prohibition was quashed, and the appeal had not been determined, the status quo that the plaintiff was the occupant of the Ayanfuri stool was maintained.

The judge as well noted that chiefs were installed by proper kingmakers, and not government, and that once the plaintiff's name had not been removed from the gazette, it was prudent for the Denkyira Traditional Council to remove the name from the gazette, before any purported installation of a new chief.

The court also stated that another attempt to destool the plaintiff, had been blocked by two decisions of the High Court in Cape Coast, which further goes to protect the status quo of the plaintiff, as Chief of Ayanfuri.

Justice Baah, therefore, dismissed the application, describing it as unmeritorious and explained that upholding the motion would mean confirming the contention that the plaintiff had been destooled.

The court awarded a cost of GH¢100 against the co-defendants.