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Group accuses Kofi Annan of funding chieftaincy dispute

According to the Concerned Youth of Akwamuman, Kofi Annan allegedly paid for the litigation costs of the Yaa Ansaa faction in the dispute

Former Secretary General of United Nation, Kofi Annan

According to the group, Kofi Annan allegedly paid for the litigation costs of the Yaa Ansaa faction in the dispute.

Chairman of the group, Godfred Akyea-Darkwa said Mr Annan has planned to fund the Yaa Ansaa gate to continue the litigation, despite a ruling by the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs upholding the legitimacy of Akwamuhene Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III.

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Kofi Annan is said to be leading one of two royal families involved in a six-year-old wrestle for a chieftaincy title in the  Akwamu Traditional Area in the Eastern Region.

Addressing the media, Godfred Akyea-Darkwa said the Chieftaincy dispute has retarded the development of the area, hence their call on the international diplomat to urge his family to accept the ruling of the traditional council.

The dispute broke in 2011 when the Queen Mother of the Botwe royal family, Akwamu Nana Afrakoma, took steps to enstool Nana Kwabena Owiredu ( aka Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III ) as Omanhene of Akwamu Traditional Area.

In a bid to stop the process, the rival Ansaa royal family referred the matter to a High Court in Koforidua, but that did not stop the Botwe family from installing Nana Owiredu as chief of the Akwamu Traditional Area.

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An arrest warrant was subsequently issued in 2012 for Nana Afrakoma and Nana Owiredu for contempt.

The matter was eventually referred to the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs for resolution, but the defendants, the Botwe royal family, have accused the Ansaa family and the former UN Secretary General – who is head of the Ansaa family – of unduly dragging the matter.

On Wednesday, the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, chaired by Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, ruled that Akwamuhene Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III was the rightful heir to the throne.

The two factions have been battling each other in the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and the law courts since the demise of Omanhene Odeneho Kwafo Akoto II (from the Yaa Botwe family) in 1992, who ruled for 55 years from his installation in 1936 and served as the chairman of the Presidential Commission of Ghana in 1955. The chief had occupied the stool on the ticket of the Botwe family.

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But 25 years after his death, the two families have been litigating over who qualifies to occupy the vacant stool.

Kofi Annan and the Ansaa family have purportedly given the Power of Attorney to one Owusu Bruku, the lawyer for the Defendants Kweku Painstil argues the absence of a substantive member of the Ansaa family at hearings was working against efforts to end the dispute.

Mr Paintsil also faulted the Power of Attorney document presented, suggesting that because Mr. Owusu Bruku was not a member of any of the two royal families, he lacks the ability to provide credible evidence.

Credit: Starrfmonline.com.gh

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