Anlos should mind their own business and stop bothering us

The chieftaincy institution is regarded as the fulcrum of traditional life in Ghana and many African countries. While some think it has outlived its usefulness as a result of the thousand and one chieftaincy disputes and criminal activities the institution has been plunged into, others think we cannot do without it.

The Anlo Chieftaincy dispute that has dragged on for well over 12 years is a typical example of how corruption and political manipulation has brought a once revered institution to its lowest ebb. When the late Togbi Adjaladja II, the paramount chief of the Anlo Traditional Area (peace be upon him), died in 1997, there was obviously no sign of finding a succession for the late King becoming a drawn-out process filled with political machinations and manipulations.

Soon after the burial of the King, NDC functionaries such as Professor Kofi Awoonor, the current chairman of the council of state, and the then member of parliament for Keta Dan Abodakpi (the ex-con), waded into the processes of selecting and installing a successor for the late king. Conceivably, by right, Awoonor as the Agbonyaga, literally the gatekeeper of Anlo, was supposed to be part of the process. But the role of the ex-convict, Dan Abodakpi, in the process was unfathomable.

A process that was supposed to be devoid of all machinations and manipulations to ensure that the sanctity of the venerated institutions is kept intact was besmirched. The rules and customs were bent, propping an old assistant commissioner of Police, Mr. Patrick Agboba. This triggered a long court battle between the gates with legitimacy over the process. The deadlock finally ended with a court fine and a public apology by Mr. Patrick Agboba, and withdrawal of his candidature.

By this time, the NDC had lost power and lacked the influence to push Agboba through the processes. This was when a laborious process from the legitimate gates led to the selection of Togbi Sri III, known in private life as Mr. Francis Nyonyo Agboada. Togbi Sri III was then made to go through all the preparatory customs that were to herald his installation. But for political expediency, Awoonor and his collaborators managed to put a spoke in the wheels of Togbi Sri III, derailing the process simply because of Togbi Sri’s association with Kufour and the NPP government.

Kufour became the bad guy among the Anlo people. They manipulated the situation to cause mayhem and eradicated people they perceived to be NPP supporters under the guise of chieftaincy dispute. There was a reflection of that in the 2008 election. Anlos voted 98% for the NDC despite all the good works the NPP had done for them.

But the questions that keep bothering my little mind is that if Kufour was the problem why Anlos could not find a successor to Togbi Adjaladja, what is still stalling them now that the NDC is in power? When the NPP was in power, they were pointing accusing fingers and calling for probes into the Anlo massacre, but they soon realized the culpability of their own NDC gurus. Why is it that now that their own government is in power, none of them has ever mentioned the Anlo killings again?

James Owusu