Banda Queenmother explains position

Banda Ahenkro (B/A), July 30, GNA - Nana Akosua Kipefu II, Queen mother of Banda Traditional Area, has stressed that there is enough evidence on record to show that the enstoolment and registration of Osabarima Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito 1 was proper and was not done through any foul means.

The Queen mother was addressing an emergency meeting of the Traditional Council at Banda Ahenkro in reaction to an earlier meeting organized by the Petelli royal family at Banda Kabrono to denounce the authenticity of the installation of the Omanhene.

Nana Akosua Kipefu appealed to the government to hold the Petelli family, which she said had openly declared threats to cause confusion in the area, responsible for any breach of the peace in the community and that it must also be made to ensure the safety of Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito 1.

"I, Nana Akosua Kipefu, on behalf of the Banda traditional area, thank the government very much for its intent to construct the Bui hydro electric dam and we wish to give assurance of our support for the successful completion of the project".

She affirmed that there was no chieftaincy dispute in the area, which, she added, was currently enjoying absolute peace and that "the Petelli family is only out to throw dust into the eyes of other Ghanaians".

The Queen mother explained that the ascendancy to the Banda throne rotated between the two royal families of Kralongo of Banda Ahenkro and Petelli Kabrono.

Nana Akosua stated that in 1977 when the then Omanhene for the area, Nana Kofi Dwura, from the Kralongo family died, both the Kralongo and Petelli families separately enstooled paramount chiefs, being Nana George Miller, alias Nana Kofi Dwura 111 for Kralongo and Nana Kwadwo Worasa for the Petellis.

"This ignited litigation and when the matter was sent to the judicial committee of the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, it gave judgement in 1988 that Nana Worasa was properly and customarily enstooled as Omanhene of Banda Traditional Area.

"The Kralongos appealed against this judgement to the judicial committee of the National House of Chiefs and when we lost again we sent the matter to the Supreme Court, which confirmed the judgement of the two lower judicial committees", Nana Akosua said.

The Queen mother said Nana Worasa was subsequently registered and admitted to the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs as Omanhene of Banda Traditional Area but he later died and Okokyeredom Sito 1 was enstooled as Omanhene on November 23 in 1997 and admitted to the regional House on September eight in 2004.

"If the Petelli royal family finds his enstoolment and registration to be improper they can forward their grievances to competent courts of jurisdiction for redress and stop appealing to the government to intervene in a non-existent chieftaincy dispute in Banda area". "The threatening words and actions by the Petelli family will not augur well for the current dispensation when Ghanaians are yearning for electric power and particularly the people of Banda traditional area, a most deprived area in the country, who are also crying for development", Nana Akosua Kipefu stated.