Dr. Nana Adarkwa Bediako III
The Hope and aspirations of the chiefs and people of Apinto Divisional Stool (ADS) in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council (WFTC) in the Western Region to push for a separate Paramountcy for the stool has been dashed.
Apinto is one of the three divisional Stools under the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council and are on records as custodians of the vast Tarkwa lands.
The other two are Benso and Sekyere Hemang. Considering the numerical strength and the vast lands the people of Apinto occupies, the chiefs of Apinto petitioned the Western Regional House of Chiefs (WRHC) pushing for a separate paramountcy for the stool.
Information available to The Chronicle indicates that the petition was couched by the Gyasehene of the Apinto Stool, Nana Dr. Adarkwa Bediako III enumerating reasons why the Apinto Stool needed to have its own Paramountcy.
In one of the reasons, the stool in it petition reminded the WRHC that the Paramount Chief of the area, ‘Osagyefo Kwamina Ennimil’ III once petitioned the WRHC to have the three of the divisional stool in his paramountcy raised to a Paramount status.
The three the Omanhene in his petition to the WRHC mentioned Apinto, Sekyere Hemang and Benso.
This was in 2008 but the petition did not fly only for the Apinto Stool to re-petition the WRHC over the earlier Omanhene petition.
Counsel for the WRHC, Mr. Sam Kweku Amoah who confirmed the petition in a telephone interview acknowledged receipt of the petition.
Interestingly, According to WRHC Counsel, even before the WRHC which acknowledged receipt of the Apinto petition could form a committee to sit and look at the (Apinto) petition, one of the Divisional Chiefs in the Wassa Fiase Paramountcy who is now the Acting president of the WFTC found problem with the petition.
Consequently, Nana Kwadu Kyerefo, Divisional Chief of Sekyere Hemang and Acting president of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council (WFTC) dragged Apinto Stool and the WRHC to Court praying the Court to prohibit the House from hearing the petition.
Copies of applicant application for certiorari which is in the possession of The Chronicle, applicant in his seven page affidavit prayed the Court to strike out the Apinto Stool petition.
The grounds for his application was that the Apinto Stool which was the 1st Interested Party in the suit was no neither a natural nor an artificial person.
The applicant argued per Chieftaincy Act 759, the Apinto Divisional Stool was not recognized by the Act because it had not been properly registered in the national Register of Chiefs.
He added that for a party to be properly before the Court, it must be either organic or artificial or a body created by statute.
Kwadu Kyerefo stressed that the Divisional Stool together with its members ought to be registered in the national register of chiefs to be recognized by law so that when challenged could produce not letters but an extract from the register of chiefs.
The Court after listening to argument by the applicants and the Interested party (Apinto and the WRHC) in its ruling wrote that from the available records, it was not difficult to find that Apinto Divisional Stool had not been registered under the statute.
Consequently, it (Apinto) should produce documents that it was registered as a Divisional Stool in the national register of chiefs.
Considering the Court ruling, the Gyasehene of Apinto Stool, Nana Dr. Adarkwa Bediako told this reporter that his stool has now abandoned the idea of pushing for a paramouncy.
To him, the stool disagreed with the Court ruling on grounds that no divisional stool in the country could produce extract that it was a registered stool.
He added that there was no denying fact that Apinto was a divisional stool.Gyasehene Adarkwa Bediako who is Lecturer further told this reporter that considering their petition for a paramountcy, the stool was only re-echoing the Omanhene earlier petition sent to the House for three divisional stools to be elevated to a paramountcy.
However, if the other two stools which were mentioned in the Omanhene petition to be raised into a paramountcy saw problems with Apinto desire to push for its own separate paramountcy, then he was at lost.
This is because, Apinto could not have waited until the other two divisional stools were ready to join hands with it to push for the creation of the paramountcy.
