Why is Kumawuhemaa Carrying Kumawu to Kumasi to Destroy?

What a similitude of the Akan proverb, “Wo asoa wo man ak3b3 no Feyiase”, the attitude of the queen of Kumawu with regards to the ongoing Kumawu chieftaincy dispute. She has given the Asante “Overlord”, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the leeway to claim absolute authority and control over Kumawuman and everything therein contrary to the universally established and accepted Asante and Kumawu conventions.

The Akan proverb quoted above relates to a war. The import of it as an adage means, doing something silly to bring problems upon your head when there was no need for your action taken. In peacetime, do you seek to make unnecessary war? The answer is a No. Therefore, if you become stupid as not only to sniff for war but also, go to war and get defeated, then the cited proverb befits your character.

Let me relate the proverb to Kumawuhemaa in terms of her collusive invitation to Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to get himself derisively inextricably involved in the ongoing Kumawu chieftaincy dispute. For her naivety, parochial-mindedness and insatiable greed, Kumawuhemaa (the queen of Kumawu traditional area) Nana Abenaa Serwaah Amponsah, an old Canadian “burger”, upon all the dearth of essential developments faced by Kumawuman, she has offered Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the free licence to invade to plunder Kumawuman of her stool lands, natural endowments and with his eyes hawkishly set on Kumawuman’s money sitting in the vaults of Bank of Ghana.

Whosoever wants can challenge me on the following assertions and I shall be more than ready to take the person on to a duel of veracity.

1. Kumawuman, especially Kumawu, the traditional and administrative headquarters of Kumawu traditional area and district, is without any decent public toilets. The few public toilets which are overwhelmingly not sufficient are a complete stinking eyesore. The children defecate in the open of their backyards.
2. Kumawuman abounds in joblessness with a good number of the youngsters taking to drinking themselves to death. Yes, the devil has found drinking of akpeteshi job for the idle hands.
3. Kumawu township has been battered over the years by widespread erosion when it rains. A walk through the town reveals sharp protruding stones that are capable of fatally wounding one should anyone trip and fall on them.
4. When you look at the corroded roofing sheets of the houses, no one will have to tell you that the town is ancient without any modernisation. No one will believe you that Kumawu (then Apemso) had once vied with Kumasi (then Kwamang) for the seat of the capital of then Asante Confederacy. At least, it should be matching Kumasi to a degree, if not in size, it must be in beauty. However, it is without any of both.
5. Had it not been Dr Kwabena Duffour, Kumawuman would still be without potable pipe borne water but contaminated streams as their source of drinking water. Before having pipe borne water recently, Kumawu suffered fatal periodic cholera outbreaks.

If the traditional area has any resources or money, why not use it for the collective benefit of the inhabitants and towns and villages in the area but to allow Asantehene and his cohorts to come for them free? Does it make any sense? Does the queen have the collective welfare of the inhabitants of Kumawuman at heart? No!!! She thinks only about what she, as old as she is, will get hence condoning and conniving with Asantehene and his Asanteman Council to impose a complete puppet on Kumawuman as their paramount chief. Someone that they can easily manipulate to do their bidding hence Dr Yaw Sarfo, the alleged Kumawuhene Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, becoming the “Yes Sir, Master” lapdog of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Does Kumawuhemaa know the history of Kumawu very well? Does she know the demands made of the Asante Confederacy before then Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua I self-sacrificed himself for the survivability of the Asante Confederacy? I don’t think she does know those demands and their importance or else, she wouldn’t permit Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to abominably walk into Kumawuman to authoritatively avail himself of the stool lands and the wealth of Kumawuman unchallenged.

She is intentionally belittling and bringing Kumawuman under the sphere of influence of Asantehene whereas that should not be the case. Kumawu historically wields the same power as Kumasi. Nonetheless, for the satisfaction of the pangs of her stomach and the greediness by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, she has allowed Asantehene to control Kumawuman as though it was one of the suburbs of Kumasi.

With God on our side, we shall resist all her diabolic attempts bordering on greed, lack of farsightedness, stupidity and lack of love for Kumawuman and her inhabitants. She should not be allowed to take Kumawuman to Asantehene to destroy.

The battle is the Lord’s and victory shall be ours and the Lord’s. The liberation battle to set Kumawuman free from the grips of Kumawuhemaa and Asantehene and their accomplices rages unabated but with God in control to ensure victory for Kumawuman.

Rockson Adofo