I was very much ashamed when I heard on radio that some disgruntled members of the Asona Royal family of Kyebi had ostensibly accused the occupant of the much revered Ofori Panin Stool, Amoatia Ofori Panin of being behind the bedevilling activities of galamsey that has engulfed the whole Akyem Abuakwa kingdom.
It should however be well noted that the quarters these accusations came from does not surprise anybody at all since these aggrieved Asona members had being in constant opposition to the occupancy of Amoatia Ofori Panin on the Okyeman highest stool from day one and would do anything to denigrate the Okyenhene’s hard won reputation both locally and internationally. Apparently, the people of Akyem Abuakwa as well as Asona Royal members all over Ghana are not perturbed about these unsubstantiated allegations and treat these allegations with the highest contempt it deserves, these people(aggrieved Asona royals) have only taken advantage of these galamsey issues to drive home their own interest in the Ofori Panin stool.
Perhaps these aggrieved Asona royals needs to be reminded of what the office of the Okyenhene stands for and what it means to chieftaincy in the Akan system and Ghana as whole and therefore must be very circumspect in their utterances; the Okyenhene has over 900 chiefs directly under him in Okyeman, the Okuapehene’s stool is also a subordinate stool of the Okyenhene,he is also the head of the Asona clan (Asona Piesie), which is the largest clan among the Akans and hence all members of the Asona clan including chiefs whether in Asante, Kwahu, Akuapem ,etc owe him that respect such that on an Okyenhene’s burial and funeral or any other important occasion they all converge at Kyebi to perform certain rites demanded by custom. Above all these, in Ghana, there is no doubt about the Okyenhene’s importance as long as chieftaincy is concerned; indeed, he is one of the two most important traditional figures in the country.
Now to the issues of galamsey, everybody in Ghana knows the efforts being made by Osagyefuo to curb this menace in Akyem Abuakwa and even beyond and it would therefore be very ridiculous for anybody to point accusing fingers at him as the same person behind all these galamsey activities. The bitter truth is that since independence ownership of mineral resources changed hands from traditional authorities to the government. In other words, mineral resources all over Ghana are vested in the President and therefore the government and not any traditional authority, hence it would be very difficult to blame a traditional head of not doing anything about galamsey activities at his backyard, after all what can the Okyenhene do when the government fails to complement his efforts by calling the illegal miners to order.
Let us appreciate what the Okyenhene has been doing for Akyem Abuakwa and Ghana as whole since his enstoolment and stop being petty. After all, galamsey is not only limited to Okyeman, it has engulfed the whole country, how many chiefs have even condemned this act let alone setup a taskforce to help curb the menace associated with these galamsey activities. I think what these aggrieved Asona royals should be doing is to encourage and offer the necessary support to the Okyenhene to champion his environmental course and not these unwarranted accusations just because one of them wants to become the Okyenhene and therefore would do anything to mar the reputation of Amoatia Ofori Panin. Akyem Abuakwa and all other members of the Asona clan however knows Nana Amoatia Ofori Panin would never descend so low to endorse galamsey.
I would also humbly call on Nana Okyenhene to use his God given wisdom to resolve all pending issues between him and the other aggrieved Asona members before they take him to the gutters. It does not matter whether it is only one person or few members who are championing this disgraceful course, let us all remember that reputation and credibility lost can be regained but not with equal measure as lost. Dialogue is the key to resolving issues and not the radio or newspapers, Nana, please sit down with them to end all these differences. No matter what each individual’s interest and motive may be, let us have respect for authority and also consider the office of the Okyenhene first irrespective of the occupant.
Kwaku Yeboah
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