The chiefs, elders and kingmakers (Gyaase) of the Osu Traditional Area have announced that the legitimate Chief and President of the Osu Traditional Council is Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI.
“Today, Osu has properly nominated and installed a chief by the accredited Kingmakers, not only that, but he has passed through all the laid down processes and procedure per Chieftaincy Act (759).”
The Kingmakers who made the declaration at a press conference on Monday at Osu in Accra said Nii Nortey Owuo III was not the occupant of the Osu Stool and that he was destooled as far back as 1986.
They said Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI was installed on May 4, 2007 and was inducted into the Osu Klottey Shrine inside the Christianborg Castle on May 11, 2007 in spite of the concerns raised by some people concerning rightful occupant of the Osu Stool.
“We want to state that the litigation and confusion about who is the rightful occupant of the Stool is over and we entreat all to accept the result of the deliberations and that in all situations there is the victor and vanquished, but we in Osu say that we are one people so lets embrace and accept each other to help develop our community,” the Kingmakers urged.
“There is no old or new road, we only have one way. Let us all be each other’s keeper and leave our differences aside and unit under the leadership of Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI and his elders to move the community forward.”
Three years after his installation, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona swore the sacred oath of allegiance to the Osu community and on May 2, 2010 the National House of Chiefs duly entered his name into the National Register of Chiefs as the recognised Osu Mantse on December 20, 2011.
The Kingmakers said the National House of Chiefs elevated Osu Stool to a Paramountcy status and subsequently on April 27, 2012, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona was inducted into the membership of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs as the Paramount Chief of the Osu Traditional Area.
They said for the past 60 years Osu has been in chieftaincy litigations, but within five years under the able leadership of Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona, the people of Osu have achieved a tremendous feat and commended him, saying “Ono ji ono” (Yours is yours).
On the development front for Osu, they said in 2010 the chiefs and elders launched an initiative named “Osu Mantse Community Development Initiative (OMANCODI)” aimed at helping to reduce maternal and infant mortality, developing the fishing industry and reducing poverty in the community, sanitation and waste management and youth empowerment and development.
The Kingmakers expressed unhappiness that institutions, well-meaning people and society have failed to donate into the Fund and this has retarded its smooth take off and pleaded to the general public to donate generously into the fund for Osu to see accelerated growth.
They said the stool was in dialogue with a construction company to put up a fence wall around the Royal Mausoleum and also talking to some investors to put up hotels and recreational facilities along the Klottey beach to restore the lagoon into its former state.
“In the near future, the Osu Stool intends to establish the following, a community vocational and technical institute, community bank, multi-purpose business complex, recreational centre for our senior citizens, an educational fund, community library and a befitting palace and a traditional council secretariat for the Stool,” they said.
They called on the Government, the Land Commission, and the Stool Lands Administration to expedite action on the release of their royalties to facilitate the above projects, while reminding occupants of Osu Stool lands to pay their rents due and all arrears owed to the Stool Lands Administration so that they would be resourced to achieve their dream for the community.
“The people of Osu are asking for a fair share of the national cake since it is an obvious fact that, lands belonging to the Stool have all been used by governments and those lands are our only legacy of survival.
“We are therefore calling on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government to release lands that are not being used for their intended purpose to the Stool as per its campaign promise.”
The Kingmakers commended the Government for its various intervention programmes to improve the life of the citizenry and urged the youth and women in the community to take advantage of these programmes to improve their livelihood.
They also called on sons and daughters of Osu both home and abroad to come home and bring their expertise to help develop the community while entreating Ghanaians, especially politicians, that this is an election year and that they must all embrace peace.
“Our campaign should be devoid of insults and incitements against one another because we are one people, please talk about issues and how we can resolve them when voted into power and also what we can do for the country. Let us all work towards maintaining peace that we have enjoyed for years now, during and after elections because Ghana is the only country that we have.”
They called on the media to be circumspect in their reportage on issues involving chieftaincy, especially Osu because it has just come out of the wilderness and poised for development and focused on accelerated development.**
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