Tradition & Culture

Antoahemaa Removed From Processes to Enstool New Chief

The Occupant of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has removed the Queen of Antoa, Nana Boa Daadom Pokua II, from the processes to enstool a new chief on the vacant male stool.

The stool has been vacant since May 29, 2023, when Nana Kwame Owusu Agyeman was destooled.

The decision to remove her followed the invocation of the Great Oath against her by a royal identified as Afrifa, challenging her legitimacy as a royal to the stool she occupies and her role in electing a candidate for the male stool.

During a Kumasi Traditional Council meeting on February 3, 2025, Otumfuo announced a decision to bench the female traditional ruler.

“I will now remove her. We will make peace prevail. I now understand the situation. All that matters now is to fill the vacant male stool.”

Applicants
As part of the process to choose a candidate, The Asantehene called for the list of royals who had sent in a request to occupy stool.

Nine persons, six of whom were named Kwabena Adusei, Yaw Ansah, Kofi Ofori, Kwadwo Adubofour, Kwaku Owusu and Asenso Gyantuah were announced to Otumfuo and the Council.

The Stool Elders- all of whom were present except one- indicated that not all the applicants were familiar to them, prompting the need to get all requestees to be invited before the Stool elders at the Council’s meeting on February 10, 2025.

Tradition
Otumfuo explained that the Queen is obligated to select a candidate for a stool and present him to the Stool Elders for enstoolment customarily. Unless there is an objection raised against the conduct of the candidate, Otumfuo said, the Stool Elders cannot reject him if they do not know him.

However, in the circumstances when the Queen was on the bench, His Majesty stated that the Stool Elders had to see the candidates in order to make a choice of their own.

“A week has been given to mobilise all the candidates and bring them here for the next step,” Otumfuo noted after an agreement from the Stool Elders.

Royalty of Queen
The royal status of the Queen of Antoa came under scrutiny after she commenced processes for the enstoolment of a successor to the town’s destooled chief.

On January 27, 2025, the Kumasi Traditional Council heard a case involving the invocation of the Great Oath against the Queen by a royal identified as Afrifa.

“Antoahemaa selected a candidate for the vacant stool. This prompted Afrifa to invoke the Great Oath against her for sidelining all other relevant stakeholders. He was summoned and questioned about his actions. At the meeting he invoked another oath to claim the Queen was not a royal and had no right to select a candidate,” the council was told.

Meanwhile, the Queen refused to counter the oath when she was made privy, the Council was further informed.

When asked if Afrifa is her grandson by Otumfuo at the Council meeting, she responded affirmatively.

“I felt that there was no need to tolerate the oath by counter-invoking to my defence because I was given an assignment by the Asantehene,” she explained her motive.

However, His Majesty stated, “There is an attack against your position by a young man and that shouldn’t be so. Clearly state your stance to clear all doubt. I will give you some time to respond back to me. Either you counter-invoke the oath, or if there is anything we need to know, you make us privy to it, so we understand how to proceed.”

 

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini

Related Articles

Back to top button