We write this piece in our capacities as Chiefs of New Juaben Traditional Council and Stool Heads who also attended a recent special meeting at Juaben-Ashanti with the Yiadom-Hwedie Royal Family.
It is regrettable that Odehye Topen Siriboe Boateng, a royal of the Yiadon-Hwedie Stool of Juaben, should choose the internet as a forum to misrepresent facts about the proceedings of the meeting, the Yiadom-Hwedie Stool and the New Juaben Chieftaincy Affairs.
This response has become necessary in order to correct the distortion of facts in the internet video posted by Odehye Topen and his internet interview thereafter(ref. www.treffpoint.com/blackprinz/video/interview-with-nana-topen ) for the purpose of setting the records straight and allow the truth to prevail.
Following Odehye Topen’s uncustomary and unsuccessful attempt to present someone to the Omanhene of New Juaben as Abusuapanin during a purification ceremony in Koforidua, a special meeting of the Yiadom-Hwedie Royal Family was convened at Juaben-Ashanti on 14th December, 2010 to consider the issue. The meeting which was chaired by Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Omanhene of Juaben-Ashanti, was attended by chiefs, elders and citizens from both New and Old Juaben.
The meeting, including all the divisions of the traditional State, was unanimous in condemning the action of Odehye Topen Siriboe as contrary to custom and very disrespectful.
The meeting agreed with the submission of the most senior Royal of the Yiadom-Hwedie Family and an ex-Queenmother of the Stool, the 97 year old Nana Akosua Oheneafrewuo, and reaffirmed the customary process which must be followed before an Abusuapanin is chosen for the Yiadom-Hwedie family as follows:
? That, there is one and only one Yiadom-Hwedie Royal Family and as such there should be only one Abusuapanin or Head of Family as custom demands.
? That, before an Abusuapanin is chosen, a special meeting of all the family must be convened for that purpose at which meeting the Abusuapanin is selected.
? That, it is against custom for a section of the family to choose an Abusuapanin and attempt to impose him on the rest.
? That, Odehye Topen’s attempt to force someone purported to be an Abusuapanin on the Omanhene of New Juaben and the rest of the family was uncustomary and against the norms and virtues of the Yiadom-Hwedie Stool.
? That, Odehye Topen should apologize for his misconduct.
In his submission at the proceedings, Odehye Topen repeatedly referred to his nomination to ascend the Stool twenty years ago without offering any explanation as to why he was not eventually installed as a Chief.
It will be recalled that a Committee of Eminent Traditional Leaders, appointed by Government on 26th October, 1991 to enquire into the New Juaben Chieftaincy Matters found Odehye Topen as Chief-elect guilty of “severally violating custom during his period of confinement”. The Committee also found that “these tabooed misdemeanours automatically disqualified Nana Topen Siriboe from being installed a Chief”.
The Committee therefore recommended that “ since Nana Topen has lost the support and confidence of the majority of the Kingmakers, he should not be installed as the Paramount Chief of New Juaben. The Queenmother is recommended to submit fresh nomination to the Kingmakers”. A Government White Paper on the Report of the Committee with reference W.P. No. 1/93 published on 9th July 1992 and signed by the then PNDC Secretary, Hon. Ato Dadzie, accepted the recommendations of the Committee.
The Committee’s Report, however, offered a ray of hope for Odehye Topen in the following statement:
“we do not accede to the submission that Nana Juaben Serwaa II and her lineage should be banned from ascending the Stool. In the case of Nana Topen Siriboe, his own misconduct as listed in earlier chapter require that his nomination and election should be nullified. He should, however not suffer a perpetual ban from ascending the Stool. We believe in due course when he has learnt his lessons he would have matured and developed the desired fortitude and composure to enhance his ascending the Stool. In the meantime he should stay out of the race. We believe this will also bring some peace to the New Juaben Traditional Area”.
The question, however, is whether after this long period of twenty years, Odehye Topen Siriboe has learnt his lessons and developed the desirable fortitude and composure of a true Royal to enhance his ascending the Stool if a vacancy occurs in future?
The following will throw some light on answering the above question:
? Odehye Topen misrepresented the true facts of the proceedings of the family meeting at Juaben by smartly cutting several vital parts from the actual video footage, which adversely affected him, and putting the resulting manipulated video on the internet.
? The fundamental submission of the most senior Royal of the Yiadom-Hwedie Family ,Nana Oheneafrewuo, that there is one and only one Yiadom-Hwedie Family with one Abusuapanin which received the approbation of the meeting, was sadly truncated from Odehye Topen’s video presentation to the net and the world.
? Again, the submission accepted by the meeting on the customary process to be followed before an Abusuapanin or Family Head is chosen was similarly removed from Odehye Topen’s internet video presentation.
? Furthermore, the vital and unanimous verdict of the meeting which found Odehye Topen guilty of misconduct was removed from his video presentation on the net.
? He showed gross disrespect to the Yiadom-Hwedie Stool by openly insulting and threatening the two distinguished Paramount Chiefs of Juaben-Ashanti and New Juaben and posting same on the internet, an act of great embarrassment to the Stool.
? He stated in his internet interview that his late mother was “ a de facto Queenmother” which was totally false since the late Queenmother of New Juaben, Nana Juaben Serwaa II, was succeeded by Nana Yaa Daani II, the present Queenmother of New Juaben.
? Odehye Topen’s unruly behaviour and strange comportment, particularly when he was found guilty by the highest authority of the Stool, and his failure to comply with the ruling and apologize for his misconduct, constitute a big taboo to the Yiadom-Hwedie Stool.
? Soon after the meeting, OdehyeTopen telephoned Nana Oheneafrewuo, the 97-year old Senior Royal of the Yiadom-Hwedie Family, raving and insulting her with horrifying threats for speaking the truth during the family meeting at Juaben.
? Through telephone calls, text messages and personal contacts, Odehye Topen has also insulted, rudely abused and threatened many of the Chiefs and Queenmothers who attended the Juaben meeting in December for standing by the truth during the proceedings.
Armed with the above factual imperatives, the reader can now make a fair judgment whether or not Odehye Topen Siriboe has indeed learnt his lessons over the past twenty years and developed the desired fortitude and composure of a true Royal as the Eminent Committee of Enquiry had wished, to enhance his ascending the Stool if a vacancy occurs in future.
Let the truth prevail in New Juaben Chieftaincy matters.
