Queen Mother Exposed In Bribery Scandal

By Sebastian R. Freiku

MR. KWASI Dwomoh, a special Aide of the queen mother of Essumeja, has confessed that he lied to the Asanteman Council presided over by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene on April 8, 2010 when he told the meeting that NanaAdwoa Obro Pokuaa Nyankropon was indisposed and could not attend the meeting.

The aide told TRUTH exclusively that the medical report, issued by a medical doctor of the Komfo Ankoye Teaching hospital which he presented to the Council purporting that the queen mother was indeed medically unfit to attend the meeting and therefore should be excused, was fake. Mr. Dwomoh stated that no medical doctor attended to her and that he (Dwomoh) had taken the said medical report from an Omanhene (name withheld) for presentation to the Council at the meeting at the Manhyia Palace.

The aggrieved aide to the queen mother also made startling revelations about how he aided Nana Adwoa Obro Pokuaa Nyankroponto influence some chiefs in the Essumeja Stool affairs pending before the Asanteman Council.

He said besides paying GH¢700.00 being the cost of video recording of proceedings at Manhyia from a loan he took on behalf of the queen mother he was directed to give Gh¢1,000.00 to a chief belonging to the Benkum division of the Council, who spearheaded the queen mother’s interest. According to him, the queen mother had confided in him that she had already paid some GH¢2,000.00 to the “chiefs” and needed to top it up with the GH¢1,000 before they could give their verdict in the case.

Dwomoh has further told TRUTH that the green cloth he wore before the Asanteman Council on April 8, 2010 when lied between his teeth about the queen mother’s alleged indisposition was specially procured for him. According to him, they (queen mother and Dwomoh) were driven by the said chief in his Benz car to Ntonso to purchase the said cloth from the Tewobaahene’s shop in order to appear elegant before the Asantehene.

Dwomoh’s confession and revelation come from his betrayal by the queen mother who has publicly disowned him over an amount of GH¢2,000.00 he loaned for her to pursue her agenda to influence the chiefs. Details (names of chiefs and their role in the bribery scandal) to be published in the next edition.

At the sitting of the Asanteman Council on April 8, 2010 Otumfuo said on record that, he was aware that some chiefs had been influenced in the adjudication of the Essumeja chieftaincy dispute in which Nana Adwoa Abora, an elder of the Aduana family of Essumeja is contesting the eligibility of Nana Adwoa Obro Pokuaa Nyankropon,the queen mother by swearing the Great Oath of Asante. He also said he was aware how much each of the chiefs involved received to overturn a report by a five-Member Judicial Committee appointed in May 2008 to determine the case.

On March 16, this year the five-member Judicial Committee headed by the Achirensuahene, Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem appointed in May 2008 to determine the eligibility of Nana Adwoa Obro Pokuaa Nyankropon as Queen mother of Essumeja, presented its report to the Asanteman Council. The Committee’s report which was read to the Asanteman Council openly declared that the Queen mother is not eligible to the female stool of Essumeja on the basis of the evidence adduced over two years at the committee’s hearings. It indicated that Nana Nyankropon hails from Brosankro.

The decision of the committee, which was unanimous, premised on the evidence regarding their respective family trees.

But Nana Nyankropon insisted that she is a royal of the stool raising objection to the findings of the committee, whose membership comprise Nana Owusu Ankoma, Seikwahene, Kyeame Boakye Yam, Nana Sabronum and Nana Adu Baah Ansah, Yamfohene. As a result, the Asanteman Council agreed to re-examine evidence including video recordings of proceedings against the Committee’s report in three days (March 29 to March 31, 2010.) When the Council met on April 1 to pronounce a verdict, 16 chiefs overturned the Committee’s report by siding with the claims of the Essumeja queen mother that she was eligible to the stool. April 8, 2010 was then fixed for the final determination but the queen mother failed to turn up claiming she was indisposed and excused herself from the meeting on the strength of a medical report delivered by Dwomoh.

The Asanteman Council is yet to fix a new date for the determination of the matter as directed by Otumfuo Osei Tutu. Meanwhile, Nana Adwoa Obro Pokuaa Nyankroponhas been dragged to a Kumasi magistrate court over the GH¢2,000.00 he allegedly collected from her special aide for the purposes of influencing some chiefs. Kwasi Dwomoh, who claims to be a businessman of Feyiase near Kumasi, in an affidavit in support of his application filed on August 8, 2010 before the court, stated that on March 8, 2010, the queen mother approached him for financial assistant of GH¢2,000.00 which she has failed to repay upon persistent demands.

Nana Nyankropon has denied the claim saying in open court that she does not know the plaintiff from Adam. The queen mother has consequently challenged the jurisdiction of the court in determining the matter which objection was over ruled on September 22, 2010.

As a result, the queen mother has filed a motion for stay of execution pending an appeal. The AshTown District Court One (1) in Kumasi is yet to rule on the motion. When contacted for her reaction on phone, Nana Nyankropon declined to comment on the allegations. She told the paper to go ahead and report anything at all.