Akwamu Traditional Council says will resolve Juapong dispute amicably

The Akwamu Traditional Council on Friday said it would resolve the dispute over the status of Juapong amicably.

In a statement issued in Accra by Nana Amo Bekai IV, Osomanyawa and Acting President of the Council, it said those who want to speak on the subject must learn the history of the area so as not to speak out of ignorance.

"I implore all politicians, chiefs as well as opinion leaders in both Akwamu and Dorfor who have, in the last few days made various statements on the overlordship of Juapong vis-a-vis the siting of a district capital at Juapong to make themselves well acquinted with the history and facts of the area in order not to speak out of ignorance," the statement said.

"Further, I state that that the Akwamu Traditional Area will pursue the matter through peaceful and legal means only. In this wise, all residents of the Juapong Area and its environs should go about their normal chores without fear or hindrance."

A statement by Captain Nkrabea Effa-Dartey (rtd), Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development that Juapong was part of Durfor in the North Tongu District in the Volta Region, has triggered a sharp rejection from the Akwamu Traditional Council.

On Wednesday, chiefs of Akwamu Traditional Area in the Eastern Region on Wednesday called on Captain Effa-Dartey to retract "insulting and disrespectful utterances," he made against them over Juapong land, to avert possible conflict in the area.

They said following the statement of the Deputy Minister that Juapong is part of Dorfor in the North Tongu District in the Volta Region, tension has started brewing in the area and that a swift intervention was needed to avert bloodshed.

The Chiefs, led by Nana Okumanini Gyamerah IV, Twafohene, who was flanked by Nana Samanhyia Darko II, Gyaasewahene and Nana Darko Akoto II, Ahenemahene asserted at a press briefing that Juapong remains an Akwamu land within the Akwamu Traditional area in the Eastern Region.

Nana Gyamerah advised the Deputy Minister to be guided by the history about the demarcations of local government, since the first Republic to the present, which proves that Juapong belongs to Akwamu.

"When the siting of Juapong for district capital issue came up, we were expecting that the Deputy Minister would come to find out from the chiefs, because the land case is before the Stool Lands Boundaries Settlement Commission. Therefore, his utterances are in contempt to the commission," he said

Nana Gyamerah said there was no need for the Akwamus to revisit the 1982 Akradi incident where a large number of people lost their lives.

"We are in peaceful era and Capt Effa-Dartey should stop making provocative statements in the print and electronic media that could prompt people to act."

Nana Gyamerah explained that Juapong lands have been under the jurisdiction of Akwamu where the settlers who were mostly Ewes, paid allegiance to the then chief, but the erstwhile SMC1 regime mistakenly placed it under Volta Region.

It was in view of this that the chiefs petitioned Stool Land Boundaries Settlement Commission where the case is still pending.

"We, therefore, regard the Deputy Minister's assertion as unfortunate, tantamount to creating tension and confusion in the area," they said, and called for an urgent retraction and apology to diffuse the situation.

On January 14, the Daily Graphic quoted Capt Effa-Dartey as describing as erroneous, the assertion by some elders of the Akwamu Traditional area that Juapong is part of the Eastern Region and not Dorfor in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region.

He said he had no opinion on the traditional lordship of Juapong or Dorfor, but the fact is that politically Juapong is in the Volta Region.