Tema chieftaincy dispute - discarded explosive

Tema, which lies one degree north of the Equator and zero degree of the Greenwich Meridian used to be a small fishing town until the construction of the seaport to berth ocean-going vessels.

The government of Ghana, by a Legislative Instrument (L.I.) acquired 63 square miles of land from three traditional areas, Tema, Kpone and Nungua, for the purpose of developing not only a port, but also an industrial city.

In1958, the government was compelled to forcibly move residents of Tema to a new resettlement at Manhean (New Town), while new communities developed. History has it that apart from Ga Mashie, the people of other Ga states, such as Tema, Nungua, Teshie, Labadi and Osu, arrived in this country differently.

The chiefs from the Ga states used to swear oaths of alliance among themselves in times of war to ward off external aggression, notably from the Ashanti Kingdom. According to reports, Tema and a number of other Ga states, after the 1966 coup that overthrew the Kwame Nkrumah regime and brought in the National Liberation Council (NLC) government, lost their paramountcies.

Lt-Gen. J. A. Ankrah, who hailed from Accra (Ga Mashie), then chairman of the NLC, in an exercise which affected some stools across the country, demoted Tema, Teshie, Nungua, Labadi and Osu states and made them divisions under the Ga stool. Tema royal families are Koklotse We, Obuor-We and Ansah-We.

Documents available show that prior to the 1966 coup, Tema was among a number of paramount states that constituted the then Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, headquartered at Dodowa in the Shai Traditional Area. It was learnt that the chief of Tema, Nii Oninku died in 1979.

Two ex-members of the traditional council who for unexplained reasons were destooled, Shippi Adjetey Naawu and chief fisherman Adjei Tsogmer, reportedly capitalised on the absence of a chief and from one of the royal families, Koklotse-We, picked Samuel Adjetey Kraku and confined him and after a number of days rushed him to swear an oath of allegiance to the Ga Mantse in Accra under the stool name Nii Adjetey Krakue III.

He was then given a police escort to Tema Manhean where tension was mounting as a result of the alleged illegal installation. The funeral of the late chief remained unperformed. He was gazetted and admitted into the Greater Accra House of Chiefs at Dodowa but soon trouble began.

The Tema Kingmakers instituted action to look into how Nii Adjetey Krakue III was enstooled. Investigations led to his name being expunged from the Registrar of Chiefs. This happened in the 1980s. In 1992, one Adjetey, also from the same Koklotse-We, but from one of the two sub-gates, aligned to the royal clan, was installed chief of Tema to succeed the late Nii Oninku under the stool name Nii Adjei Kraku II.

The Ga Mantse, Nii Amugi II, had sometime in the 90s announced the re-instatement of all demoted Ga state stools to their former paramountcy status.

There had been a number of bloody clashes between supporters of the two factions every year during ‘Kpledzoo’ and ‘Homowo’ festivities, as they both claim to be chiefs of Tema. About four years ago, journalists who attended a press conference organized by Nii Adjetey were attacked by supporters of the other faction.

Two years ago, police had to shield him from being lynched by an angry crowd when he went to sprinkle ‘Kpekple’ (Ga traditional food) during the annual ‘Homowo’ festival. During the celebration of Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA) centenary anniversary, the two factions again clashed at the Children’s Park. Just last year a group of persons besieged the palace of Nii Adjei Kraku II and vandalized everything.

Fortunately, the attacking group met an empty palace, but one could imagine the result if there were people there. This reporter’s investigations revealed that the Ga Traditional Council has given recognition to Nii Adjetey Krakue III as chief of Tema and invites him to their functions as such, whereas the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) and other bodies recognize Nii Adjei Kraku II as chief of Tema.

Information gathered has it that, because of this twenty-one year old chieftaincy dispute, annuity to be paid to the Tema Traditional Council (TTC), being the council’s money for part of the 63 square miles acquired for the construction of the port and industrial city, cannot be released.

The Ga-Dangme Council is reported to have initiated move to settle the protracted chieftaincy dispute between an uncle and a nephew. At least, 10 sittings were recorded and elders from the two sides testified and just as all was heading to an amicable end, the Adjetey Krakue III faction reportedly failed to honour the subsequent invitations, creating a stalemate.

In the next two months, the traditional area will be celebrating its annual ‘Kpledzoo’ festival and the possibility of a clash cannot be overruled. Government as at the end of last year committed ?60bn into the Dagbon crisis by way of intensifying security in the area and the Wuaku Commission that sat on the case.

Media reports, last week, had it that a meeting by members of one of the Dagbon groups at Tema saw platoons of the police there to avoid any clash. It is a truism that government does not interfere in chieftaincy matters; all the same, it is government’s responsibility to be proactive in matters that are likely to endanger the relative peace we are enjoying.

Apart from the Tema issue, which is as deadly as a landmine, investigations revealed equally simmering troubles at other spots just at arm’s reach from the seat of government. Nungua, Manya-Krobo, Effutu, Akim Bosome, New Juaben, Akwamu are just a few among the chieftaincy disputed areas which nobody seems to be bothered about but are equally volatile, like Dagbon.

A cross-section of people this reporter spoke to were of the opinion that the regional and national houses of chiefs should be faster at handling most of these explosive disputes by ensuring that the rightful people are installed as chiefs.