Chief Otte in the news again

In the British Times magazine supplement is another story of the unemployed Dutch builder who is chief of Adzijo in the Mepe traditional area of the Volta region.

There are two pictures of Mr Henke Otte who goes under the stool name, Togbe Korsi Ferdinand Gakpetor II. The first on the cover of the supplement shows him in a resplendent kente cloth with a golden bracelet, a sword with a golden staff, a necklace of beads and a crown.

The second shows him dancing beside his wife, Patience, aka Mamaa Awo Mepeyo Kpui II, as he waves a leather band topped by elephant skin.

Unlike the first story, which drew a lot of criticism because Henke was reported to have said that he was made chief because the people of Mepe saw him as the reincarnation of their dead ancestor , the Times story puts the records straight saying Henke became chief, because his wife Patience was to succeed his late grandfather, the revered Ferdinand Gakpetor.

Henke says in the story that the first publication by the Associated Press (AP), put him in public ridicule and he was once refused visa to Ghana but for the intervention of the chief of Mepe, Togbe Anipati.

"If l say that sort of thing, l insult the whole Mepe traditional area. If l talk about Mepe, l talk with great respect.

"I belong here. If l am here l am happy. If l am here l am home," he said and pleaded with the Times reports to publish the right thing and not to misquote him as did the reporter of the AP.