Techiman State Won’t Cede Any Land To Asantehene - Techiman Omanhene

The Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Area, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, has stated that the Techiman State is not prepared to cede any land of Techiman, towns or villages to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, which he claims owe allegiance to him.

According to him, the Techiman Traditional Council had petitioned the National House of Chiefs in connection with the towns and villages, which formed part of the Techiman State, which the Asantehene was claiming owed allegiance to the golden stool.

He said even though the council was yet to respond, the Techiman State was not prepared to part with any of them.

“We want to state emphatically that the Techiman Traditional Area is not part of Asanteman. The Otumfuo should be content with the areas where due allegiance to the Golden Stool is observed and avoid sowing seeds of discord within the areas which do not owe allegiance to the Golden Stool”, he stressed.

The Techimanhene was reacting to statements purported to have been made by the Asantehene in a story published on page 14 of the Daily Graphic on February 20, 2008 headlined “Otumfuo threatens to sue Brong Ahafo House of Chiefs over the elevation of chiefs and another publication in a private daily captioned “Tuobodom gets new paramount chief.”

The Techimanhene made the statement at a news conference held at the Omanhene's palace at Techiman.

Oseadeeyo Ameyaw alleged that in the said publication, the Asantehene claimed that some towns and villages at Tano Subin in Techiman, Tanoboase, Tuobodom, Tanoso and Buoyem owed allegiance to him, and mentioned that chiefs in those towns and villages had been elevated to paramount status.

He contende that the Asantehene's claim of customary allegiance and services to him from those Techiman villages as a result of conquest was contrary to public policy, peace and development since slavery had long been abolished.

“We believe that our bid to remove imperialism and domination from our country and to bring freedom and happiness to our people must not be limited only to foreign, but also local forms,” the Omanhene stated.

He questioned, “If the British brought Nana Prempeh I back from exile (Seychelles Island) and reinstated him without any claims from those who acted in his absence, why then should the Asantehene try to keep some villages and towns from Techiman after Techiman had withdrawn from the Asante Confederacy Council.”

“How does the Asantehene reconcile his current stance of creating a sense of instability in the Brong Ahafo Region with his role as a peace-maker in the Dagbon Crisis? Why should Asantehene forment trouble in areas enjoying relative peace?” Oseadeeyo Ameyaw asked.

He noted that the chiefs and people of Techiman were united and peace loving and would, therefore, not tolerate any acts that would lead to the disintegration of the Techiman State and eventually disrupt its development process.

The Techimanhene added that leadership in the 21st century should promote peace, co-operation, unity and development other than acts of intimidation that had the potential to plunge the nation into turmoil and disintegration.

“We therefore entreat Nananom in the Brong Ahafo Region to assert their independence and focus on the ideas that will positively transform the lives of the people in the region,” the Techimanhene admonished.

He recalled an event in 1996 when the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware made a similar statement on the purported elevation of certain stools within the Techiman Traditional Area that sparked off violence and led to loss of lives, destruction of property and displaced many, bringing untold hardships to the people, to buttress his point.

Giving the historical antecedent to the claims by the Asantehene, Oseadeeyo Ameyaw said the Bono Techiman State was the first centralised Akan State to emerge in the 13th Century about 400 years before the formation of the Ashanti State by Nana Osei Tutu in the 17th Century.

He added that it was through conquest that the Techiman State became a vassal state of Ashanti in the 18th century.

According to him, Techiman then served the Ashantis with all its villages and gods, including Tonoboase (Taa-Akora), Tuobodom (Twumpuduo), Tanoso (Atiakosa) and Buoyem (the Oyokohene of Techiman and uncle of the Techimanhene).

“However, the Techimanhene is no longer subservient to the golden stool, and therefore does not swear an oath of allegiance to it,” Oseadeeyo Ameyaw concluded.

Story by Samuel Duodu