Divisional Chief of Okper in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area of the Eastern Region has decried the rising chieftaincy issues in the Eastern Region and Okper in particular.
Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor IX, in an interview with the press at Somanya urged the regional minister, Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, to use her position to abreast herself of the traditions of the various Traditional Areas to determine the legitimate persons to occupy the stools.
The chief made the call at Somanya during a press conference by the Kingmakers of Okper to underscore his legitimacy as chief of the area and not Nene Anyeenorgu Teye Agor IX, a parallel chief of the area.
“People wake up from nowhere and parade themselves to be chiefs, and as I’m speaking to you now, in Yilo Krobo, there are ex-convicts parading themselves as chiefs,” a situation he said the chieftaincy Act frowns on.
He furthered: “If you look at the Chieftaincy Act, once you’ve been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction, you cannot hold yourself or someone cannot identify you as a chief.”
According to the traditional leader, the traditional council, by virtue of its status as a statutory body, must be empowered and reconstituted so that they will do their work as a traditional council.
He stressed that the regional house of chiefs must look into the work of the judicial committee because their way of handling cases looks like they are not going for the fact but rather going for money, whereby the highest bidder wins.
“Every community has kingmakers, and the customs and practices differ from one another, and these are the things we must resolve because if care is not taken, the next conflict will come from chieftaincy issues because people are hiding behind the name chieftaincy and are committing serious crimes.”
Okper kingmakers speak
The Kingmakers of the Okper Division in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area say the Division has only one divisional chief contrary to a perceived parallel chieftaincy in the area.
The elders at a press conference asserted strongly that aside from the legitimately recognized Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor IX, anyone else parading himself as the chief of Okper should be treated with all contempt.
Addressing the media in Somanya, Nene Kofi Djaneeh, the Asafoatse of Okperpiem, noted that Nene Anyeenorgu Teye Agor IX’s claim to the title of Okper Divisional should be treated with the deserving contempt.
“He may be a family head somewhere but not, and never, the Okper chief. We vehemently and categorically deny installing him at any place at any time within the Okper enclave,” he added.
He cautioned that any person or group dealing with him rather than Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor IX does so at their own peril.
The kingmakers explain that the six divisions made up of Bornya, Bunase, Okper, Nyewer, Plau, and Ogome are autonomous and no one supersedes the other in jurisdiction and function, each on their own traditional precepts and control.
“In the view of statutory positions of the council, whether there’s a paramount chief or not, the Traditional Council by a statutory body exists,” they emphasized.
They furthered: “However, we wish to inform the Traditional Council that the known, recognised, accepted, and acclaimed divisional chief we have installed is yet to be presented to the Traditional Council as a member of the Traditional Council.”
According to them, any attempt to register anybody with impunity in that capacity as the chief of Okper shall be strictly resisted with the deserving contempt and legality as may be required.
To buttress their position, Nene Kofi Djaneeh cited a letter from the Paramount Chief of the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area in 2024 to the Somanya High Court denying Anyernorgu Teye Agor as chief and also refused to invite him to Traditional Council meetings.
He added that the Paramount Chief, Oklepeme Nuer Anorbah Sasraku II collected sheep and an amount of GHS7000 and bottles of schnapps from Nomo Tetteh Aggor as reparation to revoke the oath of allegiance that they came to swear to him in honour of Anyernogu Teye Agor, baring him from henceforth holding himself as Okper chief among other issues.
In view of these, the Asafoatse said, they oppose the decision and orchestration or attempt to gazette Nene Anyernogu Teye Agor as chief of Okper because the kingmakers have not introduced the said candidate to the paramountcy.
Nene Anyeenorgu Teye Agor’s response
Debunking claims that he’s not the legitimate occupant to the stool, Nene Anyernogu Teye Agor said he hails from the Agor family, adding that his lineages can be traced through Nene Agor I and II.
He said it’s a deliberate attempt by Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor and his surrogates to create a different stool, which he doesn’t belong to.
“Their spellings of the name “Aggor, which is repeated 15 times in their press release, clearly shows that they are not talking about me.”
He said the organisers of the press briefing are calling themselves kingmakers, but there’s nothing like kingmakers of Okper or kingmakers of any division in Yilo Krobo.
“We only have kingmakers of a family because the stool belongs to a family, and that is why it’s referred to as a Royal family, and the Royal family who installs a chief whereby they have both a stool father, family head, principal members, and kingmakers, and they decide who they install as a chief.”
Nene Anyernogu Teye Agor IX said for one to be a divisional chief, you must swear an oath of allegiance to the paramount chief, which he has done since 2021, and he has celebrated all festivals and ceremonial functions in the name of Okper without any restrictions or hindrances.
In view of this, “I remain the divisional chief of Okper and have met all the requirements that it takes.”
He concluded that the attempt by Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor is a way to disturb the peace and harmony of Yilo Krobo.