Kumawu chieftaincy dispute stifling development - Group

Kumawuman Citizens Living Abroad (KCLA) are pleading with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to restrain alleged moves by certain individuals to impose a new chief on the people of Kumawu.

The group urged the King of the Ashanti Kingdom to use his good office to ensure that justice and fairness are attained in the enstoolment process.

In October, 2014, the people of Kumawu witnessed the selection and subsequent installation of Dr. Yaw Sarfo, as the Paramount Chief of the traditional area under the stool name Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, by the Queenmother of Kumawu and some elders of the area.

Dr. Sarfo’s enthronement was, however, challenged by some feuding factions of the traditional area who on January 12, 2015, also installed a rival chief in the person of John Kwasi Oduro, a telecommunications technician, under the stool name, Barimah Tweneboa Kodua V.

In a statement issued in Accra, the group feared any move to impose a new chief on the people has the tendency of retarding the developmental agenda of the area.

The citizens therefore called on the king-makers "to start the process of selection, acceptance and installation of an eligible candidate to occupy the Kodua Stool".

"This would be the only way for all citizens both home and abroad to accept and support the chief to bring progress and prosperity to the traditional area”, noted the group.