TECHIMAN & TUOBODOM CHIEFS` FRACAS REACHES BOILING POINT… As Otumfuo criticises police over inaction

THE ASANTEMAN Council has condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to the Omanhene of Tuobodom, Nana Asare Baffour III, when the Techimanhene, Oseadeyo Ameyaw Akumfi IV, recently caused his (Tuobodomhene's) arrest and detention in his palace.

The Council is calling for appropriate sanctions against the Techimanhene, or face the wrath of Asanteman.

Presiding over the meeting, the second in the year, a visibly charged Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, dared the government to choose between him and the Techimanhene, obviously in reaction to the Techimanhene's alleged claim that his government was in power, and therefore, was above the law, and could act as he pleases.

The Asantehene described the Techimanhene's conduct as barbaric, and man's inhumanity to his fellow man, for which reason the (Techimanhene) does not deserve to lead a people as a chief.

Describing the Brong Ahafo Regional Regional Police Commander, security personnel and government officials as heartless, the Ashanti King also accused them of taking sides in a chieftaincy issue, by overlooking the real issues at stake.

He expressed surprise at why, to date, the police had not shown an interest and taken appropriate action on the formal complaints of the Tuobodomhene.

According to the Asantehene, the Techimanhene, by his conduct, had dented the image of the chieftaincy institution, and therefore did not deserve to be part of it, and charged the government to seriously institute investigations into the matter, or he would arrest the Techimanhene, the same way he arrested the Tuobodomhene, if he dare step on the soil of Kumasi.

The Asantehene, with documents, recounted the history of the Tano-Subin area lands which had been contested at various levels, and received several interventions in favour of the Golden Stool.

Otumfuo stated that in his bid to claim ownership of the nine Tano Subin towns, the then chief of Techiman, who was a member of the restored Confederacy, and member of the Oyoko Clan of which he (Otumfuo) is the head, presented his claim to the Committee of Privileges and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and lost, following which the committee confirmed the allegiance of the nine towns to the Golden Stool, and which position was also collaborated by the Iddrisu Mahama Committee of February 21, 1986, which investigated the Ashanti-Brong Ahafo Chieftaincy Affairs.

According to him, the Techimanhene's conduct was uncalled for, since he could have gone to court to contest the ownership of the lands he is claiming, without going to the extreme of maltreating a human being, and more so, a Paramount Chief who owed allegiance to the Golden Stool.

Earlier, members of the Council took turns to condemn the bestial attitude of the Techimanhene against a colleague chief, while at the same time commending the Tuobodomhene for his steadfastness to the oath of allegiance to the Golden Stool.

The Techimanhene was variously described as a non-entity, whose bluff should be called off before he goes to the extreme.

While some members said “it was time for war,” and subsequently called for a declaration of war against the Techimanhene, others suggested that peace be sustained, because the Techimanhene, as a person, was “a small fry, and therefore no match for Asanteman”.

This school of thought stressed that sufficient ground for the declaration of war be found, while steps were taken to petition the government to act swiftly before the unexpected happened.

The council members renewed the allegiance to the Golden Stool, saying the stubbornness of the Techimanhene was an “open invitation to war,” and that if the government did not intervene, “all roads would lead to Techiman.”

Other members also suggested that a state of mourning be declared for all Asantes to don mourning clothes, in protest against the aggression against the might of Asanteman.

The Council, which called for investigations into the conduct of the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command, also decided to petition the government against the unruly behaviour of the Techimanhene.

Rituals by way of slaughtering of sheep were performed to atone for the insults of the Techimanhene and his treatment of the Tuobodomhene, and disregard for the Golden Stool. Meanwhile, the Council is to take a firm decision regarding the Techimanhene's gross disrespect and disregard for the Golden Stool, which he once served.

Nana Asare Baffour III, Tuobodomhene, at yesterday's sitting of the Asanteman Council, formally lodged a complaint, and narrated the ordeal he went through at the instance of the Techimanhene on March 5, 2010.

He reported that while waiting to attend a court session at Wenchi on that fateful day, some machomen bundled he and his men into a car, and drove them to the palace of the Techimanhene amid protests.

While there, he was tied up, beaten, slapped, and stripped naked, while the Techimanhene insulted he and the Asantehene in unprintable words. The chief's crime is declining to severe his relationship with the Golden Stool.

The Tuobodom chief also reported that the Techimanhene bragged that his government (National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in power, and that the police were in his pocket, hence his conduct.

Last week, the Asante Congress, comprising Asante Kotoko Society, Asante Youth Association, Asante Students Union Alumni, Asante United Front, Ahafo Youth Association, New Juaben Youth Association, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II Jubilee Foundation, Asanteman Council of North America, Mpomponsuo of USA, Asanteman Association (Asante Fekuo) in Europe and Asante Youth Association in Toronto, Canada, protested against Oseadeeyo Ameyaw Akumfi IV's continued harassment of chiefs of the Tano-Subin area of the Brong Ahafo Region, who owe allegiance to the Asantehene.

They cautioned that any further attack on any, or all of them, would be deemed as an aggression against Asanteman. According to the union, the towns namely, Buoyam, Tanoso, Tuobodom, Ofuman, among others, all owe allegiance to the Golden Stool, even though they are in the Brong Ahafo Region.