Kokofu chief mad at Mahama

Allowing two former Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees into Ghana upon the request of the United States of America is not the best of decisions from His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the Chief of Kokofu, Barima Offe Akwasi Okogyeasuo II, has said.

Barima Okogyasuo bemoaned at a Traditional Council meeting at the Kokofu Palace last week that President Mahama’s consultations about the suspected terrorists were not enough, and this can mar the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Ghana, and that President Mahama got it wrong when he accepted these militants.

The Chief, who is also a member of the Ghana Peace Council, stated that he was not meddling in politics, but accepting Al-Qaeda terrorists in Ghana is wrong and a bad decision by the Ghanaian President.

“I am not in support of it. It is wrong,” he opined. In a post-traditional meeting interview with Barima Okogeyasuo II, he indicated that terrorists who have been under detention are ominous, regardless of what the President says to calm down Ghanaians, stating “a murderer is a murderer.”

The Kokofuhene noted that if America, of all nations, cannot contain these terrorists, “why should we (Ghanaians) think we can tolerate and accept them on our land.”

According to him, as a nation, we have not been able to contain the Fulani menace in Agogo, and, therefore, wondered how we could deal with terrorists. He asked if Ghana was a refugee land where people can be brought in anyhow.

Earlier, Barima Okogeyasuo urged natives of Kokofu in the diaspora to come home during the ‘Opemsuo’ festival, which is slated for September 2016, and contribute their quota to the development of Kokofu.

Mr. Stephen Kojo Owusu, Event Director of Itanimulli Company Limited (ICL), revealed that the Opemsuo festival will be launched sometime in April this year. The Opensuo festival is celebrated by the Kokofu Traditional Area to commemorate the birth of Opemsuo Osei Tutu (1680-1717), who founded the Ashanti Kingdom after his birth at Kokofu.