Sekondi Youth demands substantive chief within one month

The Youth and Concerned Citizens of Sekondi on Tuesday embarked on a massive demonstration to press home for a substantive chief in the town.

The placard wilding youth, numbering about 200 and clad in red apparel went through the principal streets of Sekondi amidst brass band music.

Some of the placards read:"As we forgive our royal families, let them give us a new chief”, “Kundum, our cultural heritage”, and “royal family- listen to the voice of the people”.

They presented their petition to the Western Regional Coordinating Council, the Royal Family of Sekondi, the Regional House of Chiefs, the Metropolitan Chief Executive and the Member of Parliament for Sekondi.

At the Regional Coordinating Council premises in Sekondi, the leader of the Sekondi Youth Association, Mr Johnny Ansah presented the petition on behalf of the group.

The Deputy Regional Minister, Ms Emelia Arthur, who received the petition on behalf of the regional minister pledged to deliver it to the appropriate authorities for redress.

Ms Arthur commended the demonstrators for the peaceful manner in which the demonstration was organised and urged them to exercise restrain as the regional administration would do everything humanly possible to ensure the development of Sekondi and its environs.

Later at a press conference in Sekondi, the Organiser of the Concerned Citizens, Mr Depapson Quayson, said the absence of a chief in the town had affected development.

He noted that after the death of Nana Anaise IV, the Omanhene of the Sekondi Traditional Area in July 1971, the Abrashiem Abiradze family (the Royal Stool House) had been engulfed in chieftaincy dispute over the next successor to the throne.

Mr Quayson said for more than five years, the Sekondi Royal Family had been litigating over the next successor at the Regional House of Chiefs and subsequently at the Sekondi High Court.

The group therefore called on the royal family to as a matter of urgency find an amicable settlement to the dispute in order to install a substantive chief in the town.

The youth group cautioned that within a period of one month, if the Kingmakers failed to enstool a new chief, the youth would install their own chief to propel the development efforts of the town.

The group noted that as a result of the litigation, the town had lost its past glory to Takoradi whilst most businesses had relocated.**