Court throws out Chieftaincy Minister's case against leaders of African-American community

An Accra Circuit Court on Wednesday threw out a case the Chieftaincy Minister brought against three leaders of the African-American community in Akwamu in the Eastern Region.

Dr. Henry Seidu Daannaa had instructed police to arrest the three leaders in October 2014 accusing them of keeping titles as chiefs and presenting themselves as such contrary to law.

Lawyer for the accused persons, Samson Lardy Anyenini, moved the court to strike out the case for want of prosecution.

He reiterated his initial position that the criminal charged pressed against his clients was a sham as his clients were only custodians of a symbolic stool created in the early nineties under the guidance of Odeneho Nana Oduro Numapau II, then President of the National House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Esumeja Traditional Area.

Samson Lardy Anyenini
Mr. Anyenini urged the court to take note of the fact that both Complainant and Prosecution have for over a year failed to show up in court to lead any evidence in an offence that ought to have been tried summarily.

The accused persons had earlier accused the minister of fronting for his friend, one Osofo Frempong who laid claim to the stool. A claim Dr. Daanaa denied.

The Presiding Judge agreed with the lawyer and also expressed concern about the developments and proceeded to discharge Goloi Osakwe Akpan and his mother Majewa Akpan.

A son of the original complainant in the case, Anokye Yaw Frempong in May 2015 confessed in open Court to having murdered other two women leaders of the Diasporan community in Akwamu including the third accused, Memlena Diop.

Mr. Anyenini told myjoyonline.com he was worried that Dr. Daannaa had completely abandoned his promise to ensure a smooth succession plan after he seized the symbolic Fihankra Stool and Skin in April 2014 and handing them over to the National House of Chiefs with instructions for an immediate reconstitution of the Committee that created the entity in 1994.

He blamed the situation for the gruesome murders in the community last year stressing it was critical not to forget that entity now being destroyed is the only actual vehicle to further the decades of preaching by the Diaspora movement to their ancestral home to assist in its holistic development.