Contempt charges against New Okuapehene and two others dismissed

The Koforidua High Court presided over by Justice Cecelia Davis today 21st March 12, 2018, dismissed a motion for contempt filed against the Okuapehemaea, Asona Hene and Nana Oboubi Atiemo 11 the Okuapehene Elect over advertisements in both the Electronic and print media and Outdoor banners of the new Okuapehene Elect Nana Oboubi Atiemo.

Justice Cecelia Davis in her ruling cited an authority the Eminent Judge Justice Brobbeys Book on chieftaincy act 131, which states that an outdoor chief is supposed to be paraded through the principal streets of the town or possibly ride in a Palanquin. And all these things were absent to prove that the New Okuapehene Elect has been outdoored.

The contempt motion was filed by the Attorney General Department in Koforidua to stop the Okuapehemea from performing her role in the procedures and process leading to the installation of the new Okuapehene
Interestingly today happens to be the Awukudai in Okuapeman where libation is poured to the ancestors together with drumming and dancing as part of tradition which is part of the processes that are performed leading to the Odwira festival.

In the High Court ruling, Justice Davis said the Attorney General Department was not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused parsons had committed any offence so therefore they should be convicted to prison for contempt.

Justice Cecelia Davis said argued studying all the relevant authorities and procedures in the statutes there was nowhere that the eminent people brought before her has committed contempt of court. So dismissed all the contempt charges against the accused persons.