What Otumfuo Opoku Ware II said on the Tano-Subin (Tuobodom) in 1996.
Following the recent disurbances in Tuobodom, which led to the death of three people, we publish here the full text of a press conference held in 1996 by the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, on the elevation of chiefs in the Tano-Subin area of the Brong Ahafo Region which included Tuobodom to paramount status.
THE GOLDEN STOOL AND THE ELEVATION OF CHIEFS IN THE TANO-SUBIN AREA IN THE BRONG AHAFO REGION. (A STATEMENT BY OTUMFUO OPOKU WARE II, ASANTEHENE ON THE RECENT DISTURBANCES IN THE ELEVATED TOWNS, TANOSO, TUOBODOM, BUOYEM AND TANOBOASE).
Nananom, Sons and Daughters of Asante, fellow Ghanaians, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, I have invited you to this meeting to brief you on the constitutional, legal and historical background to the recent elevation of four stools in the Tano-Subin area of the Brong Ahafo Region to paramountcy and to deplore the wanton destruction of life and property in the wake of the exercise of a well-settled customary prerogative, which is guaranteed under the Constitution and laws of the this country.
The tragic circumstances in this area not only pose a serious threat to law and order and our national stability but also challenge the very foundations of our constitutional systems and our traditional institutions. They have serious implications well beyond the borders of Asante and Brong Ahafo.
As you are all aware, the Constitution of Ghana expressly guarantee the institution of chieftaincy, as established by customary law and usage. (see article 270 (1)).
The critical phrase is “as established by customary law and usage”. It should be stressed that the incidence of allegiance to a stool, the jurisdiction of a stool and the definition of chieftaincy itself are all based on customary law and usage. The creation of regions by statute and the establishment of districts by legislative or executive acts do not affect the incidence of customary allegiance to a stool or the traditional jurisdiction of a stool. It is well established in this country that traditional allegiance may be owed to a stool across Regional or District boundaries.
This is confirmed by section 63 of the Chieftaincy Act, 1971, (Act 370), which stipulates that “Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prejudice any right of allegiance to which a chief in one Region is entitled from a chief in another Region or any right of a stool in one Region to any property movable or immovable, situate or existing in another Region.” As elaborated below, this principle was acknowledged by the Nkrumah Government as far back as in 1959 when legislation was introduced to establish the Brong Ahafo Region.
Any student of Ghana history will no doubt appreciate that prior to Ghana’s independence, what now constitutes the Brong Ahafo Region was part of Asante. Indeed, before 1900 all the stools and people of the present Brong Ahafo Region owed allegiance to the Golden Stool.
Some of the stools in this area were duly recognised as paramount stools. Other stools owed direct allegiance to the Golden Stool and were encumbered by caretaker chiefs who occupied lands for the Golden Stool. The latter category formed part of the Kumasi Traditional Council.
The Tano-Subin towns of Ofuman, Tuobodom, Tanoboase, Buoyem, Tanoso, Branam, Nchiraa, Nwoase and Subinso No. 1, have owed allegiance to the Golden Stool for nearly three hundred years.
In 1935, when the Asante Confederacy was restored a Committee of Privileges was established to examine the conflicting claims of various chiefs in the confederacy to the allegiance of stools and to the ownership of lands.
The Omanhene of Techiman presented a claim to the Committee of Privileges for the above-mentioned towns in the Tano-Subin area and lost. The Committee thus confirmed the allegiance of these nine towns to the Golden Stool.
Thereafter, the Techiman stool pursued its claims in various courts up to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and lost in each case. In 1945, the Omanhene of Techiman made a last effort by way of petitioning King George VI in Council, to reverse this decision.
However, considering the time-honoured rights of the Asante, the Techimanhene’s petition was rejected once more.
This state of affairs prevailed until 1959 when the Brong Ahafo Region was created by statute. It is however important to stress that according to the then Prime Minister Osagyefuo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, this measure was taken for purely administrative purposes.
✅ 𝐈 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐎𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒!
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11 сен 2024
