The Lands Secretariat at the Manhyia Palace, headed by Otumfuo’s Apagyahene, Nana Owusu Afriyie II, is probing the veracity or otherwise of charges of extortion of money by the chief of Anwomaso, Nana Osei Boa III, from a local Contractor, in the name of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene.
The probe follows a petition to the Asantehene by the Aboafuohene of Anwomaso, Nana Fiifi Aggrey Eshun, who feels threatened by the Anwomaso chief, because of his constant demand for accountability for about GHC230,000 – allegedly extorted from the Contractor.
The Apagyahene has confided in The Chronicle in a telephone interview that Otumfuo has been notified about the petition and that he (Apagyahene) is awaiting directives to handle the matter. He has, however, met and interrogated the two sides and consequently arranged to meet the Investor, to verify the allegations, when he returns from a foreign trip.
According to the Anwomaso sub-chief, somewhere in 2016, the Anwomaso chief asked him to find an Investor for the construction of stores on a parcel of land, near the Anwomaso lorry terminal.
He said on finding an Investor, the chief informed them (the Investor and Aboafohene) that before the project commences, the Asantehene is demanding GHC200,000 as a result of which two cheques of GHc120,000 and GHc60,000 covering GHc180,000 were issued.
The petitioner said the Anwomaso chief insisted that the cheques should be issued in his name, which he deposited in his KNUST branch of Ecobank account.
Thereafter, the Aboafohene said the Anwomaso chief further said the Otumfuo’s Nhenkwaa (Servants) were also demanding GH50,000 which was paid in installments to the chief, aside some drink money.
He said just as the project commenced, the KMA demolished the project for which the Anwomaso chief took legal action against the KMA.
Nana Aggrey Eshun stated that while the case was pending in court, he had information that the land in question had been leased out and that the monies the chief took in the name of the Asantehene turned out to be untrue, because he had not asked for any such money, let alone receive any such money as claimed.
Armed with this information, the Investor, who felt swindled by the chief, started questioning the Aboafuohene, who fronted for the Anwomaso chief about the monies he paid, but any time the petitioner drew the chief’s attention to the demands of the Investor, he (chief) allegedly threatened him, which threat was captured on tape during a telephone conversation between the Aboafohene and the Anwomaso chief.
Nana Aggrey has, therefore, called for the intervention of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to settle the matter amicably, devoid of threats on his life.
The Chronicle has gathered that the Aboafuohene has also tendered the audio recordings of the Anwomasohene’s threat to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service and the Apagyahene for the purposes of investigation.
When Nana Osei Boa was contacted, he admitted that some cheques were paid into his bank account, in respect of the said project, but was not sure of the exact amount. He said the money he received was the customary drink money for the release of the land for the project and
denied taking the monies in the name of Otumfuo.
According to the chief, the action of his sub-chief was malicious. He also mentioned that he had initiated legal action against the KMA for demolishing the proposed Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) project, for which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Nana Osei Boa III, the Anwomasohene, Nana Akosua Gyamah, Anwomasohemaa and elders of Anwomaso and Outlook Ventures Limited, the Investor, on June 22, 2016.
