Welfare of Chiefs and Queenmothers, Addressing Divisions: Here are Otumfuo's 2025 directives to chiefs

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has issued new directives which he believes will address some challenges in Asanteman and make them more powerful.

The directives, which came during a public address to all chiefs under Asanteman, saw the Asantehene outline several things he intended to implement this year.

The focus of the new directives is the strengthening of the image of the Asantehene and the resolution of historical challenges between chiefs and queen mothers of Asanteman.

They are also meant to secure the welfare and benefits of queen mothers and families connected to chieftaincy stools in Asanteman.

Otumfuo disclosed to the chiefs that in the event he is unable to attend any event that requires his presence, his substitute should be a delegation led by a paramount chief.

"If there's any event anywhere which requires my presence and I'm unable to attend, don't just send anyone; send a paramount chief as my representative," he said.

To address the perennial problem of division between chiefs and queen mothers, Otumfuo is setting up two separate committees to consult and come up with measures that will ensure a harmonious relationship between chiefs and queen mothers.

"Secondly, there seem to be divisions between chiefs and queen mothers over their roles and benefits. We will address it to ensure that peace and unity prevail. Some positions come with benefits while others don't, but even chieftaincy titles without benefits have lands.

"I'm coming up with measures to ensure that even in the event of death, children of chiefs and queen mothers are not left on their own and enjoy some protection and benefits. I will set up a five-member committee to consult paramount chiefs to come up with proposals.

"I will also set up a committee of queen mothers to bring up proposals from their perspective. I'm doing this to address the problem where some queen mothers sometimes settle on people because they perceive that such persons will give them something to eat if they become chiefs," Otumfuo said.

He also advised chiefs to decouple chieftaincy issues from domestic ones and ensure that their wives do not sit in meetings about their chiefdoms.

Otumfuo also counselled the queen mothers to view the chiefs as their sons and refrain from going public with any issues that affect them.

"Our chiefs must know that chieftaincy issues are different from family matters, so your wives should not be sitting in meetings of chiefs. I've also told our queen mothers that the chiefs are their sons, so they should do well to address challenges in-house instead of going public with them because it denigrates the seat," he said.

@markmiki_ Otumfuo reveals his agenda for 2025 #otumfuo #Kumasi #asanteempire #ghanatiktok🇬🇭 ♬ original sound - Mark Miki