Denyasehemaa Destooled

The Queen of Denyase Traditional Council, Nana Adutwiwaa Bonin III, has been destooled by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II after she dishonoured the Great Oath through a treacherous invocation.

She was destooled on October 14, 2024, during a meeting by the Asanteman Council where she pleaded for justice to be tempered with mercy; however, the Great oath is such that whoever invokes it to claim something cannot be spared his or her position when found guilty.

Asanteman Above All
Delivering his final judgement after the majority of the Council members opposed her plea, Otumfuo indicated that the customs and traditions of Asanteman must be upheld no matter who falls foul.

He told the Council, “You seated me here and before that, you charged me with the responsibility of supervising the affairs of Asanteman with truth and honesty. You told me the Golden Stool and the Great Oath are my properties which must be safeguarded. You told me I have no mother, sibling or friend but the Great Oath and the Golden Stool. If our feet are not firmly positioned, the essence of our tradition and culture will be lost.”

He then commanded to be brought in state an ancient gun called Agyaponmaa to recount an instance in history where Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu I was charged to sacrifice Agyaponmaa, his beloved and dear wife, to emerge victorious in a great war that confronted them.

“He was about to go to war and he was directed to sacrifice his wife for victory and hang her bead around a gun.  She was his beloved wife. He loved her dearly above all but then he sacrificed her.”

He noted that despite the favour Denyasehemaa had won in his sight, he could not bring himself to let her continue reigning after flouting the laws surrounding the Great Oath.

His Majesty indicated that prior to her invocation of the oath, he had given her numerous chances to refrain but to no avail, thus necessitating her to face the consequences.

“If we decide to let her go scot-free, who else will we apply this to?”

Background
A Committee was set up to dig up the truth after the royalty status of Denyasehemaa was challenged by Achiasebaapanin Nana Akua Afriyie invoking the Great Oath in support of her stance. Her position was firmly rebutted by the Queen in a counter-invocation of the Great Oath.

Whereas Nana Afriyie denied having any blood relations with Denyasehemaa, the latter said otherwise.

The parties were therefore charged to make available their family trees for review by the Committee.

Findings
Presenting the Committee report on August 19, 2024, before the Council, it was stated that there wasn’t much correlation between the two trees presented. A few names reflected in both.

Upon further review of the similar names, it was found that there were some discrepancies.

“For instance, the two similar names were Akosua Nkyiwaa and Nana Effah. However, the names that were provided as the siblings of Akosuah Nkyiwaa were different. On the tree of the Baapanin, Nana Effah appeared as part of the third generation but on the Queen’s tree, he appeared as a member of the second generation. Additionally, his children on both trees differed.”

Another key finding was that Denyasehemaa’s family tree omitted the Obaapanin of Achiase as well as her immediate mother and grandmother, throwing her case in doubt. Additionally, the committee highlighted that her witness was not a member of the royal family which made her case lighter.

Based on these findings, the Committee suggested that Denyasehemaa was indeed not a royal and not related to Achiase as she argued.

The outcome of the Committee received the full support of all Divisions and Paramount Chiefs present before it was affirmed by the Asantehene.

Adoption
Laying out his ruling, Asantehene chronicled the series of events that afforded the predecessors of the Nana Adutwiwaa the chance to occupy the stool.
“Achiasebaapanin is the direct descendant of Dwaben Serwaa,” he said, adding that her brother Kwame Domase took in Aho- a predecessor of the current Denyasehemaa.

Aho at the time had suffered the loss of several children, leaving her childless. She was adopted into the home of the royals of Achiase following the intervention of Kwame Domase.

“Her descendants remained in the royal home. Aho is not related to Achiase. They however got the chance to take over the stool in the process of time. Later Opanin Kyei (a true royal) was elected to take up the stool but a plea went to my brother Opoku Ware and therefore a change in candidate. Opanin Kyei was the in-law of Opoku Ware and so they settled it indoors and he let go of the stool because he couldn’t challenge the King.”

The Asantehene noted that Denyasehemaa could have saved herself by avoiding a counter invocation.

“Denyasehemaa could have used peace to her advantage but she chose quite the opposite. And since the investigation has brought this to light, I have no choice but to put the stool where it truly belongs.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini