La Homowo in limbo

Elders and traditional office holders of Abese Divisional Area of La in Accra have called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Appeatu, to as a matter urgency, intervene in the chieftaincy dispute in La Township due to the destructive implications it may bring during this year’s La Homowo festival.

Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, elders of Abese Divisional Area, kingmakers and youth clad in red armbands, called on the IGP, Chief Justice and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, to swiftly call the La Mantse, Nii Kpobi Tettey Truru III, and his kinsmen to order so as to avert any possible bloodbath in the area during the festival.

The elders are reeling over an intended move by the La Mantse, Nii Kpobi Tettey Truru III, and his cronies to stop factions of Abese Divisional Area from partaking in this year’s annual Homowo festival of the people of La State.

Kingmaker of Abese Divisional Area of La, Nii Anyetei Anokware Nsro I, who read the press statement, said for the past four years, the La Mantse and his associates with the support of the La Traditional Council have managed to stop them from observing their natural heritage.

“We elders and traditional office holders of Abese Divisional Area of La are warriors in nature. We do not fear blood. So, we are using this medium to send a strong signal to the La Mantse, Nii Kpobi Tettey Truru III and his cronies that enough is enough.

“…and this year’s Homowo of La, we are daring them that if they want to prevent us from taking part in it…then they should be preparing for a possible showdown. Because we are ready to meet them boot-boot,” Nii Anyetei Anokware Nsro I warned, amid singing of war songs by the elders and youth of Abese Divisional Area who were at the event.

He fumed that if nothing was done by the state authorities to address the protracted chieftaincy issue in the area, it would degenerate into something else.

“You will agree with us that La is a cosmopolitan area and has seven divisional quarters that make the La paramountcy. So far, only two of these divisions have been recognised to take their pride of place at the La Traditional Council of Paramountcy thus stunning and bringing development and peaceful co-existence to a halt.

According to him, all the protracted chieftaincy disputes in the area begun when Nii Kpobi Tettey Truru III nurtured a cold war with the Abese chief by filing a suit against the kingmaker, Nii Anyetei Anokware Nsro I.

In that suit against the Abese kingmaker, he noted that the La Mantse claimed it was the turn of Nii Okanfra We to nominate, install and outdoor a chief for the Abese Clan.

But, setting the records straight, Nii Anyetei Anokware Nsro I described that statement of the La Manse as “a violation of customs and traditions of the La Paramountcy.”

He stated that the La Mantse was not well-versed with the installation process of the native customs and usages of La and also the Chieftaincy Act 2008, Act 759 of the Republic of Ghana.

According to him, Nii Oaknfra We is not among the Dzase House in Abese Division and that none of their descendants had ever occupied the stool before.

However, elders and traditional office holders of Abese Divisional Area of La have expressed worry about the constant harassment and intimidation meted out to them by La Mantse and his men, which according to them, has created tension in the La township.

They, therefore, vowed that any attempt by the La Mantse and his men to stop them from celebrating this year’s Homowo festival will result in violence in the area.