'We can't enstool chief during our mourning period' – Ahantaman Kingmakers 

Kingmakers of the Ahantaman Traditional Area have cautioned against any attempt to enstool a new Paramount Chief during the current period of mourning.

The Ahantaman is in mourning following the death of Otumfuo Baidoe Bonsoe XV, and by custom, the late chief must be given a befitting burial before a successor can be enstooled.

In a public notice issued after a meeting in Takoradi in early July, the Kingmakers said customary law strictly prohibited the selection or installation of a successor to the Paramount Stool before the burial of a deceased occupant.

“The custom of the land remains supreme and paramount to any other interest,” the notice stated.

The Kingmakers further called on the people of Ahantaman to remain united and to reject any act that had the potential to undermine the peace of the kingdom and disrupt the final funeral rites of the late king.

The late Otumfuo Baidoe Bonsoe XV served on the Council of State during the administration of the late President John Evans Atta Mills.

As part of efforts to foster unity within the traditional area, the Kingmakers have directed Nana Ezieaku IV, the Tufuhene of the Agona Division, and Nana Nwinwa Nwinwa IV, Ninfahene of the Hotopo Division, to convene an extraordinary meeting on behalf of the Kingmakers of the Baidoo Bonsoe Paramount Stool.

The meeting would involve divisional chiefs, queen mothers, representatives of vacant stools, sub-divisional chiefs, Odikrofo, heads of stool families, Asafo companies and other stakeholders to discuss broader issues affecting the Ahanta.

GNA