Open Letter To His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo And His NPP Government

Dear His Excellency the President and Your Government,

I am Mr Rockson Adofo, a subject of the Kumawu Kodua Stool in Kumawu in the Ashanti region, although currently residing in the United Kingdom. It has come to my notice through personal phone calls made, and the Ghana media that some heavily armed police cum military personnel had stormed Kumawu-Bodomase on Thursday, 16 February 2017 to assault the people.

The armed security personnel had gone there with intent to stop the people’s favourite and their recognised and accepted Kumawu Omanhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua V from attending the funeral of his deceased sub-chief Nana Okyere Krapa II, the Kumawu Akyempemhene, in the capacity of Kumawu Omanhene. In so doing, they accosted Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and his elders, his retinue and sympathising mourners who were in procession to the funeral ground to perform the necessary traditional funeral rites e.g. swear the oath to its remains before burial as demanded by the Ashanti/Akan tradition and custom.

However, the police and the military personnel that had been despatched to the area to forcibly stop Barima Tweneboa Kodua V from exercising his obligated traditional duties to not only his deceased sub-chief but also, his father by extension of the Ashanti extended family, brutally assaulted him and his entourage.

The Divisional Police Commander of Effiduase in the Ashanti region is understood to have issued an order to the assaulting security forces to shoot and kill Barima Tweneboa Kodua V claiming his order to have come from above. As I am questioning the source and relevance of this “ORDER FROM ABOVE” in my other publications, I shall not lay any emphasis on it here. However, what is shocking is since Thursday, 16 February 2017 until today, Monday, 20 February 2017 that I am writing this open letter to you, neither His Excellency the President, nor any member of his government has made a public statement on the issue let alone, visiting Kumawu Bodomase to ascertain the facts for themselves.

Much as I know that the government has much more important burning issues to tackle or deal with, it is still not appropriate to me to seeing them go so mute over the near-fatal but purposefully planned incident of police cum military brutalities inflicted on the people and mourners as occurred in Kumawu-Bodomase.

The problem of Kumawu or Kumawu-Bodomase is not different from that of Bimbilla in the northern part of Ghana so please, do something about it before the simmering but ongoing chieftaincy dispute in the area escalates into the proportions as oftentimes seen in the northern parts of Ghana.

Yours Faithfully,
Rockson Adofo
Dated: Monday, 20 February 2017