Mankessim paramount chief, queenmother to spend Christmas, New Year in cells

The paramount chief of Mankessim, Osagyefo Amanfo Edu VI, and the queenmother of the town, Nana Ama Amissah III, are to spend the Christmas and the New Year seasons in police cells.

The two traditional leaders were charged Tuesday by the police in the Central Region in connection with the murder of a Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) officer, Samuel Ampofo and one other person at Mankession on December 7.

Police in the regional headquarters detained the two traditional leaders overnight and arraigned Wednesday morning on two counts of murder and causing harm at the Saltpond District Court.

Upon the request of the prosecution, the judge, Patience Ablorh remanded the two into police custody to assist in ongoing investigations into the incident. They are to appear again on January 8, 2020.

What’s the case?

An outdooring of Nana Otua turned bloody on December 7 when the BNI officer and a civilian were shot dead by some unknown assailants during a procession.

Five persons were arrested that weekend and another later, bringing the number of suspects to six.

Central Regional Police PRO, DSP Irene Oppong, told journalists last Thursday that the Regional Police Command had picked three additional suspects in connection with the shooting incident which also injured seven other persons.

“In all the Police have nine suspects who are assisting us with investigations,” she said.

Details of the suspects were however not been given by the Police.

Dispute

The ‘outdooring’ of Nana Araba Otua came after years of a chieftaincy dispute in the area. The Daily Graphic gathered that a court ruling last week allegedly struck out the gazette of Osagyefo Amanfo Edu and Nana Ama Amissah who had, for years, been recognised as the Paramount Chief and the Paramount Queenmother of Mankessim, respectively.

Nana Otua’s faction, which had laid claim to the stool for many years, consequently held the ‘outdooring’ ceremony, which began from the palace at Obuonmu in Mankessim to the five main family shrines.

Gunshots

Dozens of people, clad in white, with white bands and in a jubilant mood, followed the queenmother, who was in a palanquin, during the procession.

But when the procession was barely a few metres from the palace, unknown assailants fired gunshots into the procession, hitting the deceased persons and the others.

The incident compelled the Mankessim Police to call for reinforcement from the Cape Coast Regional Police Command.

There was palpable tension in the town after the shooting, as people formed groups to discuss the incident, while vehicles full of policemen criss-crossed the town.

Hold up

After about two hours of a hold-up, the processors gathered again and went through the streets of Mankessim and re-converged on the palace grounds, amidst jubilation.

Some of the spectators said the procession was the last ritual to confirm Nana Otua as the Queenmother, and that they were glad the process had finally gone through.

The Linguist, Omankyeame Kofi Hagan, in a brief remark, said Mankessim was now ready to move on, with its Queenmother ‘outdoored’.

Soon, he said, in consultation with the kingmakers, a new paramount chief would be named, enstooled and ‘outdoored’.