The growing chieftaincy crisis at Atuabo in particular and Eastern Nzema Traditional Area in general must be treated as a matter of urgent national concern before the situation degenerates into a full-blown conflict.
Last Thursday, some chiefs from the area came all the way to Accra to hold a press conference, where they appealed to President John Mahama and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, to intervene decisively in the protracted chieftaincy dispute that has unsettled the area for nearly two years.
The chiefs are simply asking that the same urgency and commitment being deployed to restore calm in Bawku should also be extended to Atuabo. Nana Enu Kpanyile Annor Amihere, who addressed the media on behalf of the gazetted Omanhene, Awulae Amihere Kpanyile, expressed concern over rising tension in the area and warned that only swift intervention by the President and the security agencies could prevent the situation from escalating further.
According to him, one Berenger Flatton, who, they insist, is not gazetted as a chief, is the maternal nephew of Awulae Amihere Kpanyile, the gazetted Omanhene. The Chronicle understands that following the alleged attempt on the life of the sitting Omanhene, Awulae Amihere Kpanyile by unknown people, the latter was forced to flee the palace for his own safety.
Ordinarily, such a development should have triggered serious investigations and heightened security intervention. Instead, a rival chief has reportedly occupied the same palace, a place that ought to have been preserved as a potential crime scene and is now performing functions of a chief without restraint.
The Chronicle finds this development deeply worrying. History has taught this country painful lessons about the dangers of unresolved chieftaincy disputes. The Bawku conflict, which has lingered for decades, has claimed countless lives, displaced families, disrupted economic activities and created an atmosphere of fear and instability. Successive governments have had to spend enormous resources deploying security personnel and mediating between factions, in an attempt to restore peace.
In the same Western Region, the recent chieftaincy violence between Butre and Asemkow in the Ahanta West Municipality remains a painful reminder of how traditional disputes can easily spiral into destruction and bloodshed when early intervention fails.
In that conflict, an entire community was reportedly razed to the ground, leaving residents displaced and counting their losses. The chief of Butre himself allegedly suffered cutlass wounds during the clashes, while another person lost his life in the violence. To date, the scars of the conflict remains visible, with affected families still struggling to rebuild their lives after Asemkow was burnt.
The State, through the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), continues to shoulder the burden of supporting displaced victims and providing temporary relief to affected residents. These are resources that could have been channelled into development projects if swift and decisive action had been taken to prevent the violence from escalating.
It is, therefore, surprising that the warning signs emerging from Atuabo are not receiving the same level of national attention. Atuabo is not just any community. It hosts critical national infrastructure, including the Ghana Gas Processing Plant, with plans underway for a second gas processing project in the same enclave. Any prolonged instability in the area could threaten national energy security, investor confidence and economic activity.
No serious nation allows strategic state assets to sit in the middle of unresolved tension and insecurity. This is why the call by the chiefs for intervention by the President and the IGP must not be ignored. The security agencies must immediately move to engage all parties involved, establish the facts surrounding the dispute and enforce the law without fear or favour.
The continued exile of a gazetted Omanhene, on grounds of personal safety, while a rival occupies the palace and performs official traditional duties, sends the wrong signal to the public and undermines confidence in the rule of law.
Ghana must not wait for Atuabo to descend into chaos before acting. The lessons from Bawku, Butre and Asemkow are too costly and too painful to ignore.
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