Queenmother Threatens to Kill Reporter

Her Royal Highness, Nana Yaa Adutwumwaa, Queenmother of Kenyasi Number 1, in the Asutifi District of Brong Ahafo Region, has threatened to kill the correspondent of the New Times Corporation in the region, Kingsley E. Hope.

Nana's threat stems from Hope's reportage of her alleged smearing of powdered pepper into the eyes of a bailiff, who had gone to serve her with a summons.

In a show, fit for a goddess, the Queenmother verbally charged on the correspondent, raining insults on him, which attracted the attention of several on-lookers. She also took a swipe at the Editorial Board of the Spectator Newspaper for carrying the story.

She warned that if Hope fails to retract the story by the close of this week, she would curse him with 'Antoa Nyamaa' and if he steps foot in Kenyasi No.1 again, where she reigns supreme, he would regret ever venturing into the media profession.

The sad incident took place at the Eusbet Hotel in Sunyani on Wednesday, this week in the presence of a few paramount chiefs, who had concluded a meeting with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Newmont Mining Corporation, Mr. Wayne Murdy, who paid a courtesy call on the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Nana Kwadwo Seinti, and other stakeholders of Newmont Ghana Gold Ahafo Project Concession.

Just as the correspondent and other colleague journalists were crosschecking some facts at the reception of the hotel, after the press briefing, the Queenmother, seething with anger, stormed the place and for close to an hour, barked at the top of her voice to the surprise of all present.

She rejected appeals from chiefs who tried to restrain her from her outbursts.

The Queenmother's problem was that the correspondent did not delve deep into the chieftaincy dispute, which prompted the summons.

Again, she did not understand why the correspondent went to a colleague from Graphic to ask for her photograph to attach to the story.

Nana fired, "Have I killed anybody or stolen, for you to ask for my picture to be used alongside your stupid story?"

Surprisingly, the Queenmother did not deny smearing hot powdered pepper into the eyes of the bailiff, but she explained that since the matter was that of chieftaincy, even if the bailiff had died, "it would have been as a result of his own foolhardiness."

She accused Kingsley Hope of having accepted a bribe of ¢500,000 from an NPP chairman, whose wife she, Nana Adutwumwaa, claimed wanted to be a queenmother, just to defame her.

The Queenmother, who was smartly dressed in her traditional regalia, literally insulted all journalists present, including the Brong Ahafo Regional Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) chairman, Mr. Leonard Amengor, who was obviously dumbfounded by the scene.

"You will never write again by the time I finish with you," she prophesied.

All this while, Kingsley Hope, obviously trying to avoid a chaotic scene, kept quiet and explained how he came by the story to colleagues around.

"When I heard the story, I went to the Queenmother to verify it and that was after I had covered the Kenyasi No.1 Omanhene's celebration of his first Akwasidae on the stool. She took her time and explained the circumstances leading to her smearing of the hot pepper into the eyes of the bailiff," Hope told his confused colleagues.

He continued that he had no reason to write any unsubstantiated story about such a prominent personality as the Queenmother.

For now the press in Sunyani awaits the outcome of Nana's threat latest by tomorrow.