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General News of Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Source: The Chronicle

Otumfuo mad at Akropong chief

THE ROYAL Majesty, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, does not often display his anger in public, but when the Chief of Akropong, Nana Sarfo Kantanka came before him last Tuesday, the anger of the Great King was apparent.

An obviously incensed Asantehene virtually chased the Chief out of his palace for defying his orders and rulings concerning the long standing dispute at Ntensere over the true owner of Stool Lands and the Obuormensah shrine.

The Akropong Chief has been accused as the mastermind behind the never ending conflict between him and the legitimate Chief, Nana Sarfo Kantanka.

The defiant Chief, however, saw the other side of the Great King when he publicly rebuked him for defying his orders and ordered him to leave his palace.

“What are you doing in my palace; leave, leave!, you are the reason Ntensere has not known peace, how dare you defy and misrepresent my orders, get away from here,” an angry Otumfuo commanded.

The incident occurred at the Palace on Tuesday when the Akropong Chief decided to present his nominee as Kontihene for the Ntensere community to the Royal Majesty, one of the issues which has become the bone of contention between the rightful heir to the throne, Nana Mensah Binsu II, and the ruler of Akropong.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was not happy about the attitude of Nana Sarfo Kantanka, who is said to be fanning tension and chaos in the Ntensere by refusing to allow Nana Mensah Bonsu II, the Chief of Ntensere, to have custody over lands and other monuments belonging to the Ntensere Stool.

Making reference to a publication by The Chronicle, which indicted Nana Kantanka for bending the order of his Royal Majesty, the Asantehene ordered the Akropong Chief and his entourage to leave his Palace on that fateful day.

Nana Sarfo Kantanka’s had refused to respect the pronouncement of the Great King, which declared Nana Mensah Bonsu II of the Asona Royal Family as the rightful overseer of Ntensere Stool Lands and the Obuomensah Shrine, which had become a matter of dispute between the Chief and other interested parties.

FLASHBACK

The case was initiated after Nana Bonsu II, invoked the great oath of the Asantehene and was reinforced by the Akroponghene somewhere in 2006, that he was the custodian of the Ntensere Stool Lands for and on behalf of the Asante King.

The ruling by the Asantehene followed failure by a Committee Set up under chairmanship of the Akyempimhene, Ohene Adusei Poku, to resolve the long standing umpires, which is reportedly crippling the development of the area and also affecting the performance of customs to the Obourmensah shrine, one of the spiritual backbones of the Asante Kingdom.

The Great Asante King in his ruling stated that whilst it was the responsibility of the Akroponghene to find someone to occupy the position of Odikro at Ntensere, “Nana Mensah Bonsu and the Ntensere Asona Royal Family who are the custodians of the fetish god, Obuormensah, should also select the Fetish Priest for the god and present him to me through the Nsumankwaahene,”

A clear demarcation of Ntensere Stool Lands was also subsequent made between all the interested parties to ensure that peace and order retuned to the Ntensere community in order to ensure development.

However, despite the directives by the Asantehene, confusion appears to rage on as the Akroponghene, Nana Sarfo Kantanka and Nana Mensah Bonsu II, continue to engage in legal and physical tussles over ownership of land and the fetish god.