Hotbed of Chieftaincy and Land Disputes Up in Flames Again

Accra's hotbed of chieftaincy and land disputes, Ablekuma, is up in flames again, as two rival factions from Oshie, a town in the Ablekuma constituency, engage, each other in a free-for-all fight, which left more than 15 people seriously injured and one with gunshot wounds on the shoulder and leg.

Oshie, a small fishing village, sited between Kokrobite and Bortianor, on the ouitkirts of the capital, has been plagued with a chieftaincy dispute for the past three years, following the death of its late chief, Nii Afadi Annoh Ill, in 1998.

Sources in the village indicated that soon after the death of the late chief, a faction known as the "Akrashi Family" from the Bosompra clan, that has been responsible for the traditional position of "shipi,' hurriedly installed a new chief in the person of Nii Akrashi I, popularly known as "Nfeedon," while the late chief was yet to be buried.

Soon after the burial of the late chief, the "Afadi clan," which is responsible for providing a new chief whenever the need arises, also installed a chief, Nii Afadi Annoh IV, on January 10,1999 and since then, the hitherto peaceful village has known no peace with periodic and reprisal attacks coming from both sides.

Last Saturday's fight ignited when two men from Bortianor, who are agents of the Afadi clan, escorted a prospective buyer to a site at Oshie to erect pillars on a piece of land, were brutally assaulted by thugs from the Akrashi faction.

In the process, Ataa Ago, one of the agents received serious cutlass wounds, while the driver of a taxicab who drove the land buyer and the agents to the site was also brutalized. The taxicab, with registration number VR 4 O, was also vandalized.

A swift reprisal attack by the Afadi faction led to a free-for-all fight in the town, leaving more than 15 people injured, with one man known only as Washington, receiving gunshot wounds on the shoulder and leg. Women and children were left as spectators on the main street in the town, as the men continue the fight. This reporter who braved the fighting to interview sympathizers of both factions, also witnessed the arrival of two police patrol teams and the spontaneous fleeing of the members of the Akrashi faction into the bush, with only a couple of arrests being made.

Residents who have relations in the adjoining villages were seen transporting their little children outside for safety. Sources in the town indicated that over the past three years, property running into hundreds of millions of cedis have been destroyed, with occasional burning of houses and the throwing of stones to destroy roofing sheets of buildings belonging to the opposing rival faction.

Fishing gears are also reported to be among the property always targeted for destruction, bringing fishing in the village to a standstill for sometime now. The sources indicated that numerous reports have been made to both the Odorkor and Dansoman police but all warnings and restrictions have fallen on deaf ears.

When this reporter was leaving the town, about four groups of youngmen, each group numbering about ten, were spotted bracing themselves up for action, but he could not tell which faction they belonged to. However, the arrival of a police armoured vehicle for night patrol saw the men hiding their cutlasses and shotguns in nearby bushes and the like.