Chiefs in New Juaben asked to maintain good image of area

Koforidua, Aug. 29, GNA - The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng, has urged chiefs and members of royal families in the area to ensure that their utterances and behaviour in public enhanced the chieftaincy institution and in particular, the Yiadom Hwedie Royal family. He said as community leaders, who society look up to for exemplary behaviour, anything neg ative about them could promote indiscipline and chaos in the area. Addressing a meeting of the Traditional Council at Koforidua on Monday, Daasebre Oti Boateng expressed concern about what he termed negative reports about the utterances of some royal family members from the area.

He called on royals who contested stools but lost their bid, to comport themselves always in public instead of resorting to lies, character assassination and witch-hunting. Daasebre Oti Boateng mentioned Odehye Grace Afua Saah and her son, Odehye Topen Serebour, both of whom lost their bids to be queen and Omanhene of the area, respectively, and advised them to ensure that they safeguarded the image of the Yiadom Hwedie Stool in their public utterances.

He recalled that it was a Government White Paper in 1992 on the report of a Committee of Enquiry into the chieftaincy matters in the area which debarred Odehye Topen Serebour from being enstooled as Omanhene due to his alleged misbehaviour while in confinement. Daasebre, supported by other divisional chiefs, said since it was the prerogative of the Omanhene in the Akan tradition to select a queen, Odyehe Afua Saah should remain calm "till God's time comes her way." He commented on delays over the final funeral rites for Nana Juaben Serwaa, who died in 1999 and blamed it on alleged intransigence of Odehye Afua Saah, who, he said, had rejected interventions of the Local Council of Churches, insisting that the rites would only be performed if she was made the queen.

He said the traditional council was making efforts to organize the funeral rites and cautioned that until this was done, Odehye Afua Saah should cease processing any letters of administration over the late queen's property or face the law.