Registrar of Kpone Traditional Council condemns media attacks launched at him

Mr. Harry Anthony Attipoe, registrar of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs has accused Nii Tettey Iddrissu Mansro of holding himself up as the regent and an elder of Appolonia in the Kpone-Katamanso district, and allegedly orchestrating a media attack on him.

According to Mr. Attipoe, who doubles as the registrar of the Kpone Traditional Council (KTC), the accused influenced the media to misinform the general public that the youth of Kpone have hit the street to demonstrate for his removal from office as the registrar of KTC.

He also expressed discontent over certain statements made by Nii Mansro, which according to him, are carefully calculated to throw dust into the eyes of the general public.

Mr. Attipoe said he was shocked when reporters thronged his office to get his side of the story knowing that nothing of that sort has happened.

Regrettably, he said, despite the fact that he took his time to explain everything to them without hiding anything, they still went ahead to twist and misrepresent the facts of the story to mean that he has been exposed of some wrong doings.  

Asking Nii Mansro to desist from holding himself as regent of Appolonia, he said so far as he is concerned, the only regent Appolonia has seen in the last 50 years is one Numo Elisha Dortey, who was appointed by the late Nii Tei Adumoah II, the immediate past chief of the town in consultation with his elders about two years ago, when it became obvious that he was too weak to continue to rule the town all by himself.

The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs registrar was reacting to a media report which was circulated on websites on 15 th October, 2014 under the caption; “Kpone House Of Chiefs Registrar Exposed! …As Regent Demands His Sack”.

In the said publication, Nii Tettey Mansro appealed to the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Dr. Henry Siedu Daanaa, to as a matter of urgency replaced Harry Attipoe at the Kpone Traditional Council claiming his dual role is affecting justice delivery in the area.

 “The fact is one man cannot occupy two positions at the same time. The Registrar of a traditional Council plays a critical role in ensuring the effective day to day administration of the Council and registers all legal suits filed accordingly by aggrieved persons”, Nii Mansro indicated.

“I have just come here to file a writ of summons and the Assistant Registrar Mrs. Okpoti Yeboah is telling me her boss Mr Attipoe has directed her not to receive any writ of summons in his absence. So here we are, meaning in the absence of the substantive Registrar we can't file our writ of summons? Just look at this…The fact is one man cannot occupy two positions at the same time.

But Mr. Attipoe said about a year ago, he received a letter from the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture to take over the administration of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs and have an oversight responsibility over the Kpone office, until a substantive officer is appointed to take charge of the Kpone office.

He explained that since taking over the two positions, he has discharged his duties with due diligence to the admiration of the sector Minister, stating that as a result of the nature of the jobs, he has days he goes to the Kpone office and days he works at the Dodowa office.

He indicated that on Friday, 10 th October, 2014 the judicial committee of the Traditional Council heard the case he claimed Mr. Attipoe has frustrated him from filing; unfortunately their application was dismissed purely on technical grounds, he added.

The following Monday, around 05.30 hours, Nii Mansro called him on his cell phone and informed him that he intends to file an appeal of the case that morning, but he (Mr. Attipoe) told him that he won't go to the Kpone office on that day, therefore he can file it on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Perhaps dissatisfied with his explanation, Mansro turned up at the office at around 9.30am in the company of hoards of reporters to file his appeal, but he was informed that it is only the Registrar who has the capacity to receive such suits, but since he was not at the office, he has to come back the following day.

But the media created the impression that the youth of Kpone were demonstrating for the removal of Mr. Attipoe from the Kpone office.

“What it means therefore is that, they have done all that they can to either remove me from this office or get me transferred from here, but to no avail. I am sure they think this is the opportune time for them to get me out of Kpone to enable them go ahead with their schemes, so that they can have access to Appolonia lands, but it won't work. They will fail”, he warned. 

“In the chieftaincy law, there is nothing like regent, and therefore I will advise Nii Tettey Mansro to desist from carrying himself about as a chief, because regents are not chiefs”, the chieftaincy expert pointed out.