KTC to resolve Fante 'war' in Kumasi

Nana Ninsin-Imbeah, Mfantse Head, Anloga/Oforikrom (left), Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene(middle), Nana Boakye-Ansah Debrah, Asokore-Mamponghene, Head of Nifa Division, KTC(right)

THE NIFA Division (Right Wing)  of the Kumasi Traditional  Council (KTC) has initiated  moves to find a lasting solution to the impasse between the President of the Mfantseman Council in the Ashanti Region, Nana Arkorful Owese, and his Nifahene, Nana Nanabanyin Ninsin-Imbeah II.

Nana Boakye-Ansah Debrah II, Asokore Mamponghene and head of the Nifa Division of the KTC, who confirmed this to The Chronicle, indicated that the move follows the mandate by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for a Division to amicably resolve differences between members.

The head of the Nifa Division of the KTC said he was personally worried that the impasse had degenerated into a media war between the parties involved in the matter, and hoped it would soon be resolved once and for all.

He said the forum would ensure that the parties are fairly treated in reaching a lasting solution.

Nana Boakye-Ansah confided in The Chronicle that emissaries had been dispatched to notify the parties about its intention to resolve the impasse.

According to the Asokore Mamponghene, the parties would be summoned to a meeting on October 9, 2011, to determine the matter.

He said the outcome of deliberations would depend on evidence and procedures to destool and enstool a chief, and who has the right to execute those procedures.

Nana Boakye Ansah Debrah said the initiative would forestall the imminent disintegration of the Mfansteman Council, signs of which had emerged since 2009 with the resignation of some prominent personalities, including Nana (Dr.) Okatakyi Amenfi VII, Omanhen of the Asebu Traditional Area in the Central Region and the Vice President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs  as chairman of the Mfantseman Council of Elders of Ashanti, and Nana Kofi Essel Banful, Medical Director of the Adom Clinic in Kumasi  and Sanaahen of Gomoa Abonkor in the Central Region as vice chairman.

Nana Boakye Debrah's initiative may put on hold similar attempts by the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs to settle the impasse.

Nana Kofi Enu V, alias Nana Paul Sagoe, Father of the Mfansteman Council and Tufuhene of the Ekumfi Traditional area in the Central Region, who also doubles as a member of the Nkosuo Division of the Kumasi Traditional Council, has tried unsuccessfully to resolve the impasse.

The unresolved impasse has also led to the joint resignation of Nana Asiedu Kwapong, the Moree Chief in the Ashanti Region, Nana Gyedu Amissah, Mfantse Chief of Anwomaso near Kumasi and a retired senior official of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), and Nana Aba Obinim, Mfantse Queen of Kaasi, a suburb of Kumasi, as members of the Mfantseman Council.

The Mfantse Overlord in Kumasi is accusing the head of the right wing of being disrespectful, for which he intends to suspend his Nifahen, who in turn, is calling for accountability on the part of the Mfantsehen.

As a result, the Omanhene (Paramount Chief) of the Mfantse community in Ashanti, Nana Arkorful Owese, has announced the purported destoolment of Nana Ninsin-Imbeah II, Head of Fante Community in Anloga/Oforikrom, per an advertiser's announcement in a section of the media since July this year.

The said announcements were to the effect that Nana Ninsin-Imbeah was no longer the recognised chief, and could not hold himself as Mfantsehen of Anloga/Oforikrom, because he had, since 2009, been destooled.

The Mfantseman Council had stated that the purported destoolment of the Anloga Mfantse leader took effect from April 2009, and that the general public should not transact any business with Nana Ninsin-Imbeah, which position the heads of the Asona, Nsona, Twidan, Adwenadze, Kona and Aboradze families, elders and Mfantses resident in Anloga and Oforikrom in Kumasi have   challenged.

The heads, who constitute kingmakers in the area, indicated that Nana Ninsin-Imbeah was the recognised head of the Mfantse community in the Anloga/Oforikrom locality, having been duly nominated, installed, and sworn into office as Mfantsehene since August 15, 2000.

The elders advised that persons who had a case against their heads should prefer charges before a duly constituted Mfansteman Council of Elders for appropriate redress, saying the decision to sideline their leader by the President of the Mfantseman Council, was arbitrary and borne out of malice.