Turmoil in Appolonia over disappearance of Chief

For two years, natives and residents of Appolonia, in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality in the Greater Accra Region have been derided over the mysterious disappearance of the Divisional Chief and the gross neglect of his traditional duties which have led to chieftaincy mayhem and indiscriminate sales of allodial lands in the community.

According to the Appolonia Youth Development Association (AYDA), since the mysterious departure of the Divisional Chief, Nii Nuertey Amobi II, all efforts at locating his whereabouts have proved futile thereby making some unscrupulous persons take ownership and encroach upon Appolonia Stool lands with impunity.

Speaking at a presser held in Appolonia by the AYDA yesterday, Assistant Secretary for the Association, Harrison Noye Quarshie, said it is the utmost desire of the residents and natives to see the return of their Divisional Chief to his traditional duties and to steer the community on a pathway towards development.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is the desire of natives and residents of Appolonia alike, that our Chief emerges from his hideout and return to the town to continue with his duties as Chief and steer affairs of our beloved Appolonia towards the right direction to ensure the development and wellbeing of the youth in the Community", he explained.

To the AYDA and residents alike, the absence of the Divisional Chief has made it difficult for the Stool to fight its case in court because "Nii Nuertey Amobi II has rejected summon documents, which are to be endorsed by him".

Concerns of AYDA

Mr. Noye Quarshie contended that, the influx of land-guards and hoodlums who are unrelentingly terrorizing the lives of natives in Appolonia and grabbing their lands indiscriminately is a direct aftermath of the sudden disappearance of Nii Nuertey Amobi II from the community.

"Another area of concern is that as a result of his absence from duties, groups of people and individuals who pose as land guards have enough room to operate, grabbing Appolonia Stool lands, and releasing or alienating same indiscriminately, not forgetting their atrocious acts of terrorizing the indigenes, attacking them on their way to their farms," he bemoaned.

He further averred that there were series of unjustifiable attempts by some detractors to wrongfully destool Nii Nuertey Amobi II but the unflinching efforts of the AYDA foiled the attempts of the detractors.

"... soon after his installation as Chief of Appolonia, he teamed up with a group of people who fiercely opposed him and the kingmakers,... this same group of people held a press conference and told the whole world that they do not recognize him as the legitimate Chief of Appolonia simply because he is the son of a linguist. It did not end there; they prevented him from entering the St. Stephen Methodist Church, Appolonia where he intended to hold a thanksgiving service after his installation," the youth noted.

He continued: “as if that was not enough, the group, under the impression that one of the signs that show that a Chief has been destooled is when his sandals or ‘Ahenema’ is removed from under his feet, brought some young men suspected to be land guards into the town, and ordered them to remove one of the sandals from under the feet of our Chief to signify his destoolment.

“These land guards during the process fired gunshots into the air thus scaring residents in Appolonia and causing several other people to run for their dear lives. Soon after the incidents, some of his detractors went on Oman FM, a Madina based radio station to declare war against him with threats of death.

“But for the huge support, we the youth in the town showed and the fact that the detractors realized that our resolve and commitment behind our Chief was unquestionable, his detractors would have succeeded in their plot against him", he explained.

The AYDA is also appalled that Nii Nuertey Amobi II has failed to perform the necessary traditional and customary rites required of him as the occupant of the Appolonia Stool such as the pouring of water or libation over the last two years and anytime he wants to come to the town to do something; he has to do so in the company of armed policemen and soldiers, creating fear and panic among the residents, in the process.

Demands of AYDA

The AYDA stated that Nii Nuertey Amobi II deliberately decided not to meet the youth for peaceful discussions when he was written to; the needless interference of Nii Nuertey Amobi II in the performance of duties of an interim Regent, Numo Peter Mensah, who was installed by the Paramount Chief of Kpone, Nii Tetteh Otu II; and the blatant neglect of official duties and self-imposed exile for the last two years as concrete grounds for his outright removal.

"We, the youth of Appolonia are calling on the Kpone Traditional Council to commence the process of destoolment of Nii Nuertey Amobi II because he has virtually gone contrary to the provisions of the Chieftaincy Act for the last two years", the Association demanded.

Chief’s Response

When contacted, the spokesman for the Appolonia Chief, Asafoaste Nii Odiasempa stated categorically “No Comment”. He explained the case first went before the Judicial Committee of the Kpone Traditional Council for arbitration and later the Human Rights Court in Accra, hence his refusal to comment on the case.