Osu stool elevated to Paramouncy

The Osu stool has been elevated to a paramouncy among six others in the Greater-Accra region after over 60 years of protracted chieftaincy disputes which denied Osu people a properly recognized chief.

This came in less than five years of the installation of Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI as Osu Mantse in 2007.

Some amount of legal issues are still lurking around the stool, but for once Osu now has a chief who was traditionally installed by the kingmakers of Osu, recognized and gazetted at the National House of Chiefs, and also inducted into the Greater-Accra Regional House of Chiefs.

One previous chief of Osu only went as far as being gazetted at the National House of Chiefs (NHC), but his name was eventually struck out at the NHC, and he never got inducted into the Regional House of Chief due to disputes over his legitimacy.

That Chief is said to still be in court challenging the legitimacy of Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI as Osu Mantse, even though in a number of legal judgements, cost was awarded against him, and he had also been advised to seek redress at the Judicial Committee of the National House of Chiefs since the courts did not make chiefs.

A myriad of legal battles concluded in Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI being accepted as the properly installed Osu Mantse, which was a necessary condition for him to have been gazetted at the National House of Chiefs and inducted into the Regional House of Chiefs.

But the greatest news for the people of Osu is within just five years of the installation of Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, Osu is not only represented at the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs, but also raised to a paramouncy, after being denied for more than 60 years.

Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI said he is not only excited for the success he had chalked within that short five-year period, but also for thet fact that Osu has been given its rightful place as the town that houses the seat of government, and other major national monuments and businesses.

He said in a few weeks Osu would inaugurate a proper Traditional Council at a big durbar of chiefs and people of Accra, adding that he would also ensure that the Osu Mantse’s palace received a facelift to the standard that befitted a monumental city like Osu.

Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI however noted that before he can do any of that, there was need to evacuate the rival chief, who is still challenging the legitimacy of Nii Dowuona in the law courts, where he (the rival chief) had already been told he had no locus.

“We will soon serve him with an evacuation notice from the courts and if he does not move out we will then seek assistance from the security agencies to do their work,” he said. “Already he owes us a lot of money in cost awarded to against him by the courts but we have not bothered to collect it from him.”

The Osu Mantse said it was time for Osu people to benefit from the rich endowment bestowed them, which had attracted lots of local and multinational businesses like banks, telecom operators, electronic companies, restaurants, hotels, fuel stations and others into the city.

He said one of the first things he would do would be to invite all the business people in Osu to a meeting and share his vision with them and allow them to find their space within that vision to move Osu forward.

“We have already reclaimed some lands and other properties belonging to Osu from government and some organizations, which took them improperly in the midst of the protracted chieftaincy disputes,” he said.

Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI urged all businesses and individuals who had the obligation to pay royalties to the Osu stool to take note that Osu is no more a divisional stool but a paramouncy, so it does not have a Divisional Council, but soon to be inaugurated Traditional Council.

“Anyone who keeps dealing with any group of people calling themselves the Osu Divisional Council does not only do so at their own risk, but also commits an illegality, which is actionable by law,” he said.