New Juaben Traditional Council erred in statue demolition saga - Lawyer

The Omanhene of New Juaben and President of the New Juaben Traditional Council, Daasebre Oti Boateng has been given a 14-day ultimatum to reconstruct a statue of Oheneba Yao Boateng at the Prince Boateng Roundabout in Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital.

The request by the family of the late Oheneba Emmanuel Prince Yao Boateng comes after the Paramount Chief and the Traditional Council demolished the statue which was erected in honour of their deceased on March 19, 2021.

In a statement issued by the Traditional Council, it averred that the statue was erected by the children of the late Oheneba Yao Boateng without seeking approval from the Omanhene.

The statement issued by the Council and signed by its Registrar, Maxwell Asante on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, stated that the erection of the statue was a gross disrespect to the Yiadom Hwedie stool and that it was an “offensive and dirty trick.”

According to the New Juaben Traditional Council, the decision to demolish the statue was caused by the failure of the children of the late Oheneba Yao Boateng to remove the statue having promised and apologized when summoned to the palace on February 5, 2021, by the traditional council.

In a letter to the Traditional Council, however, a lawyer for the family, Osafo Adu-Amankwah described the demolition as illegal.

“Your destruction of the bust and your subsequent press release explaining your reasons for the above-mentioned destruction is absolutely illegal even if the bust is offensive to you.

“If an Assembly grants a permit for physical development and same is carried out, if there are issues that call for destruction or demolishing, there are laid down procedures by the law that one ought to follow which your office should be aware of,” the lawyer stated.

According to the family’s lawyer, the Omanhene and the Traditional Council were wrong in destroying the bust as all public spaces and naming are vested by law in Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) and not the traditional council.

“The question in issue is not the lineage of the late Oheneba Yao Boateng or his progeny, their rights and responsibility within the Yiadom-Hwedie royal family, the issue has to do with the naming of a landmark on a public space, physical development in a specific area and the authority that regulates these matters.”

“To the above issues, all public spaces and naming are vested by law in Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs), in this instance the New Juaben South Municipal Assembly.

"Again, regulating physical planning and development within any district is solely the mandate of District Assemblies (New Juaben South Municipal Assembly), therefore, it is entirely misplaced and a lack of understanding of the law to suggest that the New Juaben Traditional Council ought to have been consulted and same granting permission before such a physical development can be undertaken since they have no such powers under the law,” the letter stated.