Osu kingmakers bare teeth at trouble makers

The Kingmakers of the Osu Stool, the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase and the Owuo Royal Family of Osu Amantra have issued separate statements condemning some members of the Dowuona Royal Family for trying to stoke confusion in Osu.

Some members of the Dowuona Family which together with the Owuo Family are the two Ruling Houses in Osu recently organized a press conference staking claim to the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase and declaring an intention to reconstitute the Dzaase, which is the only body with authority to install Osu Mantse.

A few members of the family also had engagements on a proposal to install an Osu Mantse from the Dowuona Family as a result of the ongoing Chieftaincy Dispute, which is before the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra House of Chiefs.

But the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase has issued a stern rebuke, describing their claim of ownership of the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase as “farcical” and “outlandish”.

We want to assure the people of Osu that the Dzaase is firmly incontrol of affairs in the Osu Traditional Area, following the Ruling by the Greater Accra House of Chiefsrestraining all claimants to the Osu Stool. The Dzaase under the leadership of the Dzaasetse, Nii Saban Atsen VII, per the Ruling, is in absolute control of all affairs pertaining to the Osu Stool untilthe final determination of the case,” the Dzaase affirmed.

According to the statement, “there is only one Osu Kinkawe Dzaase clothed with the authority and mandate to install Oau Manste. The Dzaase in February 2022 installed Teteete Nii Nortey Owuo IV as Osu Mantse, although it is the subject of legal dispute at the Greater Accra House of Chiefs. We are very confident that we will emerge victorious in this dispute.”

The statement which was signed by the Dzaasetse, Nii Saban Atsen VII, who is a gazetted Chief with name in the National Register of Chiefs said, contrary to the claims of the group from the Dowuona Family, the authority of the Dzaase is not derived from a few members of any family in Osu. “The authority of the Dzaase is derived from codified traditions and customs established over centuries, and they are, therefore, not subject to the whims and manipulations of a few of a rather respected family”, the statement said.

The Dzaase also denounced attempts to install a new head of the Dowuona Family stressing that as far as the Dzaase was concerned, Mr. William Nortey Dowuona, also known as Nortey Ga remained the Head of the Dowuona Family. “We wish to advise all persons, institutions and organisations to deal only with him or his assigns in all matters relating to the Dowuona Family,” the statement said.

….Owuo Royal Family bares teeth

Meanwhile, the Owuo Royal Family has also warned the said members of the Dowuona Family to discard any notion of installing another Chief as that is bound to fail because it would be in flagrant violation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed prior to the installation of the immediate past Osu Mantse, Nii Kinka Dowuona VI.

In a separate statement signed by their Head of Family, Mr. Edward Nortey Noi, the Owuo Family reminded the said members of the Dowuona Family that the Osu Mantse Stool had been the sole preserve of the Owuo Royal Family until the 9^th Osu Mantse, Nii Noi Owuo I, in 1824 recommended that the Chieftaincy in Osu should be alternated between the House of Amantra and the House of Kinkawe after his death.

The statement explained that, “in 2006, the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase led by Nii Saban Atsen VII, in a bid to ensure peace initiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Owuo Family to cede their turn to rule, to the Dowuona Family.” The statement added that the MoU was the catalyst for installation of the immediate past Osu Mantse, HRM D. F. Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI now of blessed memory in May 2007. The statement indicated that the MoU clearly stipulated that after the reign of the candidate from the Dowuona Family, the Owuo Family would have its turn to select a candidate to be installed as the Osu Mantse.

“We are not only befuddled by the utter disrespect and disregard for the Memorandum of Understanding but also by the sheer arrogance, greed and despicable sense of entitlement demonstrated by the said members of the Dowuona Family,” the statement said.

The statement added that the Owuo Royal Family had selected and presented Nicholas Nii Nortey Owuo IV to the Osu Kinkawe Dzaase and he was duly installed in February 2022 under the Stool name, Teteete Nii Nortey Owuo IV.

“We are confident that the Chieftaincy dispute will soon be resolved to set Osu on a new path of peace, unity and development,” the statement said.