I believe in dialogue not war - Oseadeeyo Ameyaw

Techiman, March 24, GNA - Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, Omanhene of Techiman, has stated that the chiefs and people in the area believed in dialogue and that he would resort to the law courts to seek redress in th= e Tuobodom issue.

"War has never been the answer, it is not the answer, and in fact wi= ll forever not be the answer to the type of crisis that we have all found ourselves in today. Gone were the days when kingdoms engaged each other i= n wars to settle disputes."

Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw was addressing a press conference in Techima= n under the theme: "the Techiman-Tuobodom stand off, setting the records straight" on Tuesday.

He said the people of Techiman were peace loving and believed that peaceful co-existence was a necessary condition for accelerated developme= nt. The Omanhene decried what he claimed were serious misrepresentation,=

misinformation, lies and deliberate attempts by some people who had veste= d interest in the Techiman-Tuobodom issue and the Tano-Subin cases to misle= ad the Ghanaian public.

On what brought about the Tuobodom stand off, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameya= w referred to a shooting incident that occurred on October 7, 2008 when he was on his way to attend a yam festival of Nana Obeng Ameyaw Barima II, anoth= er chief of Tuobodom and Akyempemhene of Techiman Traditional Area.

He said when his convoy reached the outskirts of Tuobodom, they were=

attacked and many of his subjects sustained gunshot wounds adding that on= e Kwaku Takyi became paralyzed as a result of the attack.

Referring to the recent pronouncements of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II when he addressed the Asanteman Council, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw said he and his elders have decided to watch him from the sidelines with sadness, because he (Asantehene) reacted to lies and misinformation.

The Omanhene appealed to the Asantehene to "cool down" and allow the law to take its course and said he had "left everything to the security services to decide because being a law abiding citizen, the last thing I will do is to threaten the life of an innocent person".