File photo
The Dorsi Animle Clan of Osudoku in the Greater Accra Region is contesting the powers of the chief priest of Osudoku to install a paramount chief for the Osudoku people.
The Setse (Stool Father) of the Animle Family in a press statement questioned the authority of Nimo Tettey Ofori to apportion such responsibilities upon himself.
Numo Larweh Agblom’s response follows the installation of Nene Ongmle Teye Adjidah Botuako V, known in private life as Teye Chai, as the paramount chief of the Osudoku Traditional Area following the demise of Nene Ngmongmowuyaa Animle VI.
“For the sake of emphasis, it must be well grounded and reiterated that, Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori and his cohorts from the Gbese quarters have no authority to nominate, elect and or install a Paramount Chief for the Osudoku Traditional,” parts of the release stated.
Underscoring the absolute authority of the Dorsi Clan as legitimate kingmakers of Osudoku, the statement notes thus, “from the foregoing, particularly in the face of all the historical evidences and facts, it is a well-known fact and practice that the Dorsi Clan resides the original and unalloyed authority to select, nominate and elect a person to occupy the most revered stool in the Osudoku State, the paramount stool.”
Numo Larweh Agblom while arguing that the Ablao Shrine is the bona-fide property of the Animle Family and the Dorsi Clan warned that same cannot be used to intimidate their rightful descendants and/or assigns, adding that the ignorance of Nimo Tettey Ofori shouldn’t be tolerated but treated with utmost contempt.
The statement also referenced a February 2024 letter from Nimo Tettey Ofori which he described as, “a pursuit of a long-standing non-existent claim to foment trouble and destabilize the peace and tranquility of the Osudoku State,” detailing his withdrawal from the head chief position and a subsequent threat that the Dorsi Clan would cease to be the clan from which the Paramount chief is nominated, selected, elected and installed.
It also accused Nimo Tettey Ofori of harbouring the illusion that he wields the authority to withdraw the position of the Paramount Chief from the Dorsi Animle Family of Osudoku, furthering that his actions and those of his cohorts constitute a great dent and sacrilege on the image of the Osudoku State.
The statement also cites a 1913 Commission of Inquiry Ordinance which names the five (5) clans of Osudoku as Dorsi, Gbesekponor, Gbesedorm, Klikpa and Lanor with Dorsi as the ruling tribe, suggesting that the ruling authority of the Dorsi Clan was well researched and grounded in history.
The Setse, in the statement, also referenced an 1897 tribal ruling declaring King Animle as the chief of the Osudokus after a petitioner contested his position as to who was the King (Mantse) of the Osudoku State.
While noting that the Paramountcy of the Osudoku Traditional Area assumes the ultimate responsibility of protecting the sanctity and territorial integrity of the Osudoku Traditional Area, the statement called on the various Divisional Chiefs and Sub-Chiefs, Asafoatsemei and other revered leaders, to exercise restraint by remaining calm.
Numo Larweh Agblom assured them that the traditional council has in the light of unfolding events petitioned the appropriate security institutions and the assurance that they are closely monitoring the situation to avert any further blasphemous acts on the part of Nimo Tettey Ofori.
Find the full statement below:
OSUDOKU TRADITIONAL AREA
DORSI CLAN – OSUDOKU
PRESS STATEMENT
Nenemei, Nanamei, Friends, All Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning and welcome to this all important press conference.
We, the Paramountcy of the Osudoku Traditional Area, extended this noble invitation to you in order to brief you on some recent developments within the traditional area as far as the Paramountcy is concerned.
At around February, 2024, the Dorsi Animle Family were served with a letter headed ‘NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF HEAD CHIEF POSITION FROM THE DORSI ANIMLE FAMILY OF OSUDOKU’.
This letter is on the letterhead of Gbese Aboriginal Council of Osudoku (Ablao Nadu Shrine), dated February 20, 2024 and addressed to, among others, the Dorsi Clan, our immediate past Paramount Chief and the Paramount Queen. Again, this letter was signed by Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori and a number of persons; as they themselves put it “for the entire Gbese families of Osudoku”.
The letter purported to narrate a chequered history of the people of Osudoku with varied forms of vituperations against our revered and insurmountable ancestors; Nene Klagbordjor Animle V and Nene Ngmongmowuyaa Animle VI and at the end, concluded that the Dorsi Clan would cease to be the clan from which the Paramount chief is nominated, selected, elected and installed.
Besides, Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori and his allies on Saturday, March 23, 2024 organized a press conference and had their letter published in a grant style.
On April 30, 2024, in what many people described as a significant turn of events, some persons who described themselves as a section of Gbese led by Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori, who is expected to be the custodian of our custom and tradition, to commit the most sacrilegious act on Osudoku land.
It is of course a significant turn of events because it is strange, unexpected and a complete departure from tradition and history.
We, the Paramountcy since the origination of the above referenced letter, have remained very calm in observance of the revered tradition that commands the respectful mourning of our deceased Paramount Chief of the Osudoku State, Nene Ngmongmowuyaa Kwesi Animle VI.
It is now time, however, to set the record straight:
Firstly, Nimo Tettey Ofori was misled and deceived into thinking that he has the authority to withdraw the position of the Paramount Chief from the Dorsi Animle Family of Osudoku. Even though we are sadly appalled by the falsehood being peddled, we are strangely shocked by the crass ignorance being exhibited.
It is unfortunate that he has allowed himself to be misled by semi-educated persons parading themselves as researchers.
Secondly, it is factually inaccurate to state that the people of Gbese are the original inhabitants of the Osudoku state. Page 1863 of the Gold Coast Gazette Extraordinary, published on 1st December, 1955 succinctly established the History and Tradition of the Osudoku State.
It states thus, “The Aboriginal inhabitants are said to have descended from the sky at Kasunya (about 6 miles E. of Osudoku). They were joined later by immigrants coming from a distant place east of the River Volta.” It continues: “With these immigrants came with some people under the leadership of the Nadu Priest who become known in their new home as the Gbese section, establishing themselves at the foot of the Ningo (Yongwa) Hill..”
Nenemei, Nanamei, Ladies and Gentlemen, these historical facts were corroborated by the wildly known and well-researched Jackson Report. Thus, the actions by Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori and his cohorts constitute a great dent and sacrilege on the image of Osudoku State.
The ruling authority of the Dorsi Clan was well researched and grounded in history. The 1913 Commission of Inquiry Ordinance (Cap. 168 of the Laws of the Gold Coast Colony) concluded that Osudoku has five (5) clans: Dorsi, Gbesekponor, Gbesedorm, Klikpa and Lanor with Dorsi as the ruling tribe.
It must be noted that, the inquiry was sanctioned to ascertain the veracity of the claims of Botuako III, Konor of Eastern Osudoku who led rivalry claimant of paramount chieftaincy against Manche Animle. The report successfully concluded in favour of Manche Animle as the leader of the Osudoku State and affirmed the undisputed authority of the Dorsi Clan as the ruling tribe.
It is significant to make the point that several of the similar attempts of these clans particularly the Gbesedorm and Gbesekponor Clans to subvert the authority of the Dorsi Clan proved futile. A similar action was taken by Ogbe Asumeng Ankrah Botuaku, from the Gbese(kponor) tribe aimed at claiming the position of the Paramount Chief from the Animle Family of Dorsi.
This has never succeeded. At page 13 of the Harper Report (Cap. 168), the positions of the Gbesedorm and Gbesekponor Clans have been established. At best, they have always remained Nadu Priests just like the present Nadu/Ablao Priest Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori. At no time in history have they led or served as paramount chiefs.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is also imperative to grant emphasis to some conclusions made in the Harper Report which was sanctioned to settle the chieftaincy issues of the Osudoku State. The report, for instance, recommended inter alia that:
“Manche Animle, the Asafoatsemei of the tribes and the Otibo family be summoned to a public meeting and be informed in accordance therewith; that the emblems recently taken from the Otibo family be destroyed; and that any further attempt on the part of the Otibo Family (Gbese) to exercise a jurisdiction to which they are not entitled be punished with severity’.
The above narratives thus affirmed the serial affront by descendants of the perpetrators of disturbance in the Osudoku State. The February 20, 2024 letter from Nimo Tettey Ofori and his so-called researchers is nothing but a pursuit of a long-standing non-existent claim to foment trouble and destabilize the peace and tranquility of the Osudoku State.
This serial attitude of misbehavior and disturbance dates back as far as 14th August, 1923 and has been successfully nullified by successive governments, rich researches as well as competent Commissions of Inquiries.
Several records exist and persist to affirm the notorious character of the perpetrators of this disturbance. In similar actions, the Right Honourable L. S. Amery, M.P. on September 23, 1926 described Akwesi Chai, in whose lane Nimo Tettey Ofori originates, as merely a tool in the hand of one T.K Otibo of Osudoku, a notorious character to whom various references are made both in the petition itself and the enclosures thereto.
The authorities took a particular notice of notoriety of the most importune petitioner in the whole of the Eastern Province. Kindly read: pages 26 – 35, 41 – 51 of Osudoku Native Affairs, ADM 11/1/642 and pages 1- 25 of Osudoku Native Affairs, ADM 11/1/642.
After their serial failures at the Commissions and Inquiries, it is trite to note that, around 1897, Captain Otibu, a descendant from the petitioners, contested the position of King Animle as to who was the King (Manche) of the Osudoku State.
In spite of all the falsified facts and pretensions, the tribunal had no difficulty at all in declaring emphatically that King Animle was the Chief of the Osudokus in the case of Onade vrs Donolo delivered on Wednesday, January 27, 1897. It judgment concluded in part as: “I find that Otibu was not at any time King, and that Animle if not styled King was the Chief of Osudoku…”
From the foregoing, particularly in the face of all the historical evidences and facts, it is a well-known fact and practice that the Dorsi Clan resides the original and unalloyed authority to select, nominate and elect a person to occupy the most revered stool in the Osudoku State, the paramount stool.
The overwhelming ignorance and traditional incompetence of Nimo Tettey Ofori must not be countenanced and treated with the utmost contempt whatsoever. It is also conclusively relevant to mention that, the Ablao Shrine is the bona-fide property of the Animle Family and the Dorsi Clan. Thus, same cannot be used to intimidate their rightful descendants and/or assigns.
For the sake of emphasis, it must be well grounded and reiterated that, Nimo Tettey Kwame Ofori and his cohorts from the Gbese quarters have no authority to nominate, elect and or install a Paramount Chief for the Osudoku Traditional Area. Indeed, if thrones were just taken over merely by writing of letters and press conferences, many kingdoms would have collapsed by now.
The Paramountcy of the Osudoku Traditional Area hereby undertakes to ensure the ultimate responsibility of protecting the sanctity and territorial integrity of the Osudoku Traditional Area.
It is, therefore, calling on all Divisional Chiefs and Sub-Chiefs, Asafoatsemei and other revered leaders, who have sworn an oath to remain loyal to the Paramountcy and play significant customary roles in the Osudoku Traditional Area, to exercise restraint and remain calm as we take steps to make sure that the sanctity of the institution is maintained.
We have petitioned the appropriate security institutions and the assurance that they are closely monitoring the situation to avert any further blasphemous act on the part of Nimo Tettey Ofori.
Long live Dorsi Animle Family.
Long live Osudoku.
Long live Ghana.
Thank you.
NUMO LARWEH ABGLOM
SETSE (STOOL FATHER) OF ANIMLE FAMILY
References:
Harper Commission of Enquiry Report, 1913
Gold Coast Gazette dated 1st December, 1955
Osudoku Native Affairs ADM 11/1/642
Notice of Withdrawal of Head Chief Position from the Dorsi Animle Family of Osudoku.
Onade vrs Donolo delivered on Wednesday, 27th January, 1897.
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
