but The Noose is Closing in upon her Neck

Oftentimes do we hear people say, "When a long rope falls into an unwitty hand, it does not take long for it to make a noose to hang up himself/herself" This is the precarious state in which Kumawuhemaa seems to be inextricably embedded at the moment.

All will recall that on the death of the late Barima Asumadu Sakyi II, the paramount chief of Kumawuman, Kumawuhemaa did not only turn down a request to her by the Ananangya royal family but insulted them. She said, "Hwe mo ho bi a mo de gyina ho. Se mo di mo koobi ne mo nkotomire nkwan no wie na mo ni biribi yo a, na mo abegyina manin se mmenfa akwondwa ma mo nni. Mo ho se obi a odi akwondwa?" - Look at how they are standing there. After consuming your salted tilapia-"cabbage" soup and have nothing else to do, you proceed to me asking to be offered the Kumawu paramount stool. Do you resemble persons fit to ascend to the stool?" She continued with her diatribe against them until she accused them of being slaves. What a humorous situation of the pot calling the kettle you are black. It will be recalled that she was slapped there and then with the invocation of the "Asantehene Ntamkese" to the contrary.

As if the verbal insults were not enough, she rubbed salt into their wounds. She made a written defence submission to the Court where she accused both the Ananangyas and the Odumases of being slaves. What a shameful situation of adding insult to injury after the "koobi nkwan" instance.

Before Asanteman Council she had cunningly attempted to retract or make joke of her relegating-intended castigation of the Ananangyas/Odumases. Barely had she said, "Me nua nnom ne Ananangyafo3.... - The Ananangyas and I are brothers and sisters, when she was slapped with the invocation of the Asantehene Ntamkese to the contrary for the second time. She was challenged and accused of being rather the slave. She could not counteract the accusation there and then. She rather sought permission to proceed to Kumawu to consult with her elders to ascertain whether or not she with the Ankaase royals is actually slave.

"Nothing ventured, nothing came", so the adage goes. She sought for trouble and she has had it in abundance. For over three years, she has not reported back to the Asanteman Council whatever she has been told by her elders on the issue of their alleged slave status. This is an act of great insubordination! How disrespectful she is! Three years along the line without reporting back to either Otumfuo Osei Tutu II or the Asanteman Council, she has now started making noises about her readiness to counteract the oath so invoked on her. She should understand that Abraham Lincoln once said, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. She should be ashamed of her newly found audacity that grants her permission to make empty boastful noises with impunity.

I would not have come up with this article if some Ankaase guy here in the USA had not been going about boasting that their plan to prevent the Ananangyas/Odumases from ever ascending the Kumawu paramount stool is within course. According to them, they had decided to hold the stool unoccupied for ten years. By the expiry of the ten year period, the two octogenarian-weaklings championing the course of the Ananangyas would be dead. When these two old men are no more, the Ankaase can then continue to hold on to the throne as if nothing had happened.

Kumawuhemaa has played that sexual friendship card very well but it is about to collapse like a pack of playing cards. My heart bleeds for Kumawuman. Now is the chance for Kumawuman to get developed as one of her sons is in government. The selfish and insatiably greedy Kumawuhemaa with her visionless Ankaase royals is directly preventing Kumawuman from getting developed. Refer to my previous articles to learn how.

She is not a real royal like the Ananangyas/Odumases. She and her Ankaase brothers and sisters originate from "Ayo", a very beautiful Fulani young girl purchased from the Ejisu Market. It was the son of this Fulani slave, Yaw Dabo, who caused all the problems Kumawuman is sitting with today. Anyway, Kumawuhemaa and her Ankaase royals cannot be allowed to continue with their intentional mischievous dilly-dallying. It is too late for them to call the shots. The Ohemaa has lost her right to counteract the invoked oath considering the time period (3 years) she has wasted just trying to achieve her motive of getting the poverty-stricken Ananangyas/Odumases expunged from ever ascending to the throne.

I quite remember there was a guy in Kumawu in those days that people used to tease him for behaving more of a woman than a man. He used to help his mum with the house chores. He went to farm, went to fetch water, cooked and did every household duty same as any obedient, compassionate girl would do for her parents. Although not for bad reasons, people still teased him saying, "(name withheld) woye abaayewa" - ...you are a girl. Should Kumawuman citizens allow themselves to be manipulated or fooled any further by these Ankaase people, then I may suggest that they are all called "mmaayewa" for bad reasons. Most of them think they have houses in the cities so to hell with anything having to do with Kumawuman. To such persons, I say, "Mo ye mmaayewa" I would not say you are women since that will be an insult to the intelligence of some dynamic and dedicated Kumawuman women like Afia Yentia, the late Madam Adowoa Buruku and the late "School Fees' niece, Abena Apomasu. Can I then say, "Kwasi Adu a.k.a Last Day, wo ye abaayewa" What about Yaw Mensah (Opoku Mensah)? He is also "abaayewa" OOH LA LA! HAHAHAAAA. This is not funny. I am serious.

Why are the Kumawuhemaa and the Ankaase royals hell bent on keeping the throne as theirs and theirs only? What a situation of inviting a stranger into your home who after sometime begin to lord it over you, ejects you from the house and possesses it as his. Wonders will never cease!

My condolences to Akwasi Sarpong, an Ankaase royal who has lost his mum back home in Ghana at Kumawu.

John Fosu