Daasebre Oti Boateng Disstooled?
Some chiefs in the New Juaben Traditional Area of the Eastern Region yesterday claimed to have destooled the Omanhene of the Traditional Council, Daasebre Professor Emeritus Oti Boateng.
Led by Baffour Akwasi Adarkwa II, Abesimhene, and Nana Yaw Annor Boateng, Nseniehene, the angry sub-chiefs swore the Ntamkese (the great oath of the Asantehene) against Daasebre Oti Boateng.
The swearing of the Asantehene's Ntamkese against Daasebre, according to the chiefs, per their traditions, signified that he had been destooled and therefore ceased to be the traditional head of the people of New Juaben in Koforidua, the regional capital.
However, the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs insisted Daasebre Oti Boateng was still the Paramount Chief of New Juaben.
Nana Osei Nyarko, a member of the House of Chiefs told Joy News the Regional House of Chiefs had not received any formal complaint about the conduct of Daasebre Oti Boateng, adding that he was 'taken aback' by the posture of the sub-chiefs.
He stressed that so far as 'procedure and methods are concerned it is absolutely wrong' for the chiefs to act in that manner.
The Abesimhene, before slaughtering a ram to seal the Ntamkese, noted that by 'this rite if Daasebre Oti Boateng should act or parade himself as chief in any part of the world, then he would be breaching the great oath of the Asantehene which comes with grave consequences'.
The Nseniehene, the spokesman for the group, poured libation and recited incantations to invoke all the gods and ancestry of New Juaben and Asanteman against Daasebre, stressing that the latter had no respect for their customs.
He stated emphatically that by the rites they had performed, Daasebre Oti Boateng was stripped of his title and could not act as a chief unless otherwise decided by Otumfuo, who is the overlord of both Old and New Juaben.
The Nseniehene, earlier at a press conference, accused Daasebre of reducing the New Juaben Traditional Council into a Hitler Concentration Camp where his chiefs and people were slaughtered.
He said the council had become a laughing stock among other traditional councils because its leader who touted himself as one of the knowledgeable chiefs, only thought of how to punish members who opposed his alleged corrupt regime.
Since his enstoolment, he had done everything possible to destroy every structure of probity and accountability in the traditional set-up, they claimed.
'If ever there exists a singular person in the New Juaben, Old Juaben and the whole of Ashanti Kingdom who has shown a dearth of knowledge and disrespect for our customs and traditions, then Daasebre Oti Boateng is the culprit. He has no equal in this enterprise,' he stated.
He further suggested that 'if there exists in our customs and traditions that such breaches demanded uncensored suspensions then the Asantehene has indeed been late or lenient in suspending Daasebre Oti Boateng from his Kingdom.'
He explained that the Abesimhene was suspended by Daasebre without any just reason three years ago.
'The Abesimhene was suspended three good years ago together with the Mpampamahene, Ahenemmahene, Nseniehene, Dumakwaehene and Asuminamhene. The first casualty of his dictatorship and calumny was the Nkonguasuafourhene, whom he suspended 18 years ago till date.'
The Nseniehene explained that the Abesimhene was suspended because he organised a succinct royal funeral for the late Dumakwaehene Nana Okoh Yaw Acheampong whom Daasebre suspended and banned from the palace after securing the Yiadom and Hwedie stools for him.
The deceased chief allegedly became a target of Daasebre because he was a witness in the Suhyen affairs which travelled to the Supreme Court to the review stage, and which Daasebre lost.
He said the New Juaben Traditional Area was overwhelmed by developmental challenges, but that was not Daasebre's priority. Rather, he had reduced the traditional council into a rubber stamp full of sycophants who only danced to his tunes.
The Nseniehene, Nana Yaw Annor Boateng, observed that the chieftaincy institution had evolved over the years since independence, with the emergence of development-oriented chiefs like Asantehene, Dormaahene, and Okyenhene amongst others.
He said due to Daasebre Oti Boateng's disrespect for the Ashanti Stool, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II had neglected New Juaben, stressing that even though the Ashanti king passes through New Juaben to Accra and elsewhere to do charity work, he does not even stop to check how his people at New Juaben are doing due to Daasebre's disrespect for authority.
He chronicled a number of chiefs whom Daasebre's axe had fallen upon because they had spoken their minds.
He said no amount of vilification would deter them from agitating when there was every reason for agitation, stressing that the truth was immortal and immutable.
Real knowledge, he noted, 'is not in the number of schools one has attended; it is knowing the extent of one's ignorance.'
Action Null And Void
Daasebre Oti Boateng held a counter press conference where one Peter Oduro Aborokwa, who claimed to be the Abusuapanyin of the Amakye-Ansah family, said the Abesimhene Baffour Akwasi Adarkwa was not the rightful heir to the throne which he occupied.
The Krontihene of New Juaben, Baffour Nyantakyi Tutu Boateng said all the rites performed by the Abesimhene and his cohorts were null and void, adding that they needed to seek his permission before swearing the great oath of the Asantehene.
Since they did so without his permission, it amounted to nothing, rubbishing the claim of Daasebre's destoolment.
He stated that his situational report indicated that Abesimhene, for the past 43 years or so that he occupied the seat, was not the heir to the throne, calling him a fake chief.
However, the Abesimhene said Oduro Aborokwa was not the family head but his nephew; and described him as an imposter rented by Daasebre to dent his image.