RE: Ato Kwamena Dadzie: Techiman vs. Asanteman: No one wins

Mr. Ato Kwamena Dadzie

I read above the article by Ato Kwamena Dadzie with complete disgust. With the passion of this issue raging so high, it was irresponsible for Ato to have written this article and irresponsible on Joyfm organization part to have published it.

I am not a journalist but I am sure it is taught in journalism class that when situation like Techimanhene and Asantehene occurs, serious caution should be taken in addressing it in the media.

I must say l like reading some of Ato's articles on myjoyoline.com. But my only problem with him is that he sometimes wades into areas where he has no expertise or knowledge like his article on 03/19/2010. Does Ato know the history of Tuabodom and Techiman chieftaincy dispute? I do not think so. I will urge all journalists in Ghana to desist from writing about this Techiman and Tuabodom conflict if they don't have full grasps of the history of the conflict because it does not help anyone but inflame the situation.

The conflict in between Techimanhene and Tuabodomhene is not tribal conflict as Ato continues to say in his article. Chieftancy disputes are not tribal disputes and I hope he consults his elders or history books to know the difference.

Now to Ato's vitriol attack on Asantehene. He has every right to attack Asantehene the way he wants but to personalized it the way he did in his article was unprofessional and unwarranted.

Ato asked “why would the Asantehene jump into a fray between the chiefs of two neighboring towns” Ato, the answer is simple; attack on Tuabodomhene is tantamount to attack on Asantehene. And I must add that any responsible leader would have done what the Asantehene did. Ato, where in your adult life have you seen or heard a chief of a town stripped naked? Where in your adult life have you seen or heard a chief of a town kidnapped by macho men? I thought you were educated but you seem to be very uneducated person.

The otumfuo conscience was correct and that was to call the president to act and yes the president acted after his speech. It is highly disrespectful on your part to call the Asantehene to make another speech to calm the situation down. He does not have to do anything, not by himself or through any of his emissaries. National government has already taken over.

It is up to you if you do not think that Asantehene knows better. I must say that is childish and irresponsible statement on your part. You should have consulted chiefs in your hometown to solicit their views on this matter before you wrote this unwise article.

What do mean when you say” if Asantehene wants to return to the ways of his ancient forebear, he should take his Asante tribe somewhere and leave us alone to build our nation”? What you need to understand is that Ghana is not federalism, so yes Asanteman can form our own government if we want. How on earth could you make that uncouth statement, Ato? I think you may have some personal animosity toward the Asantehene and you are using this conflict to air your hatred of him in public.

If you want to spew any attack on anyone in this conflict, it should be our president and his team who remained silent until Asantehene public outburst.

If you may do not know, it took over a week after this incidence before Asantehene made this statement. My question to you and your apologists is where was the president and his national security team?

Just think about it, if Techimanhene believed that Tuabodomhene was behind his assassination attempt two years ago, why didn't he give his name to the police? This is a known figure in the community so it was not like he could not be located by the police. Now he is kidnapped and stripped naked and police is called to arrest him. What kind of nonsense is this? And you call Otumfuo's action unacceptable?

Ghana is now becoming a lawless state where everyone has taken the law into his/her own hands so this unlawful acts like the one by Techimanhene is going to continue unabated if the president and his security team do not step up and arrest this problem.

As for Ato Kwamena Dadzie, abstain from writing about issues you do not know anything about and do not bring your personal feelings when writing especially if you want to be considered a good journalist.

Kwaku G.Poku
Alexandria, Virginia
[email protected]