Chiefs fight BA Minister

The chiefs and people of Nsoatre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region are up in arms against the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo and the Sunyani West District Chief Executive (DCE), Agnes Kusi for creating a parallel traditional council in the town.

According to the Traditional Council and the Concerned Youth Association of Nsoatre, both the Regional Minister and the DCE have created divisions in the traditional council and Nsoatre people just to achieve their parochial political interest.

At a press conference held last Friday at Nsoatre, the chiefs and the youth expressed their disgust about the actions of the Minister and the DCE and called on President John Mahama to call them to order.

They accused Mr. Aidoo and the DCE for neglecting the Paramount Chief of the area, Prof Nana Amoah Kromansah and the Nsoatre Traditional Council by selecting four out of the 17 traditional council members and working directly with them instead of the entire traditional council.

“We are all aware of the prolonged chieftaincy dispute that has retarded the progress and development of our dear town. Fellow citizens, most of us are witnesses to the ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs in August 2011 after which we were expecting speedy development. To our surprise, the various roles played by the Ankobeahene, Akwamuhene and Krontihene (who recently swore to the current chief of Nsoatre) have retarded progress and development of our town,” a statement read by the Nsoatre Nifahene, Nana Amoah Appiah II, said.

The statement further said: “It is a common knowledge that politicians are not king makers but the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister has selected only four out of the 17 traditional council members and created another traditional council in the town which is a recipe for mediocrity.

“We would like to state emphatically that there have been several regional ministers in the region since 2001 but none of them sowed a seed of division in Nsoatre. We would like to put on record that Nana Hinneh Anframfo Palace does not belong to the Regional Coordinating Council or the Sunyani West District Assembly.”

The chiefs also chastised the Sunyani West DCE, Agnes Kusi for what they described as the role she played in creating confusion in the town.

According to the Nsoatre chiefs, the DCE has made public announcement that she does not recognize any chief in the town despite the ruling by the Regional House of Chiefs.

“She used her political power to invite all NDC members to the palace on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 to meet the Regional Minister to fuse chieftaincy with politics which is not her core mandate as a DCE,” they alleged.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach both the Regional Minister and the DCE proved futile so as to respond to the issues.

Until 2011, the Nsoatre Township had been embroiled in a long-standing chieftaincy dispute following the clashes that occurred during an attempt to outdoor a newly-installed paramount chief, which resulted in the death of about three people.

Since then, the RCC seized the keys to the palace which has been deteriorating.

However, in submitting the keys to the chiefs a couple of weeks ago, the entire traditional council was sidelined and only four out of the 17 council members were called to attend the ceremony among some NDC faithful.