It has become necessary for me to convene this Press Conference to explain to you the circumstances leading to the cancellation of the “KING KAKU AKA NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, HUMANITARIAN AID AND FUN GAMES DAY 2023” in Half Assini on Monday, 2nd January, 2023 so as to debunk any allegation making the rounds in the public domain concerning the said event. I will also take this opportunity to state the position of the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) on this matter.
On Thursday, 8th December, 2022 I received a letter dated 30th November, 2022 from “Nzema Koyele Eku” inviting me to “KING KAKU AKA NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, HUMANITARIAN AID AND FUN GAMES DAY 2023” slated for Monday, 2nd January, 2023.
On 14th December, 2022 a counter letter was received from Nana Ayebie Amihere opposing the KING KAKU AKA NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, HUMANITARIAN AID AND FUN GAMES DAY 2023.
Let me be clear on this, the Jomoro Municipal Assembly is not against individuals and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) giving humanitarian assistance to the needy, vulnerable in society and widows. In furtherance of this, the Municipal Assembly lauded the effort by Nzema Koyele Eku to give humanitarian aid to some needy people in Jomoro Municipality.
On August 26th 2022, I celebrated the one-year anniversary with the Hope of Widows Association at Half Assini, a recognised widows association. This goes to emphasize that, I am not against any kind of support extended to vulnerable groups in Jomoro especially widows.
However, the organization of the programme under the auspices of King Kaku Aka posed a serious security threat to Jomoro Municipality as revealed by assessment of the security situation on the ground based on available intelligence.
In view of that, the Municipal Assembly in a letter dated 14th December, 2022 with reference number JMA.01/10/24 advised the organisers (Nzema Koyele Eku) to terminate all arrangements towards the King Kaku Aka new year celebration to enable the Municipal Assembly carry out further consultations with MUSEC and other relevant stakeholders on the proposed celebration.
In order to sustain the peace and security in the Jomoro Municipality, in a letter dated 21st December, 2022 with reference number JMA.01/10/25, the Municipal Security Council invited representatives from Nzema Koyele Eku, who are officials from King Kaku Aka’s office, Half Assini Chief and his Elders to an emergency MUSEC meeting on Friday, 23rd December, 2022 at the Municipal Assembly Hall, Half Assini.
At the meeting both factions took entrenched positions
Nana Ayebie Amihere VI and his Elders declared their intentions to prevent the programme from taking place whether King Kaku Aka attends the programme or not contrary to MUSEC’s recommendation that the event could take place but without King Kaku Aka in attendance.
On the other hand, the programme organisers also vehemently vowed to ensure that King Kaku Aka attends the event by all means contrary to MUSEC’s advice not to allow him to attend.
In view of the foregoing, MUSEC took a decision to suspend the programme indefinitely and a letter to that effect was sent to all parties involved. I must admit that this decision was imperative in averting potential chaos.
I therefore crave your indulgence to draw your attention to these facts relative to the programme:
- As we speak, per official documents available at Jomoro Municipal Assembly, there is only one recognized Omanhene of Jomoro land ie. Awulae Annor Adjaye III
- Per discussions, the chief of Half Assini does not recognize King Kaku Aka as King of Nzema and had therefore declined to grant the organisers permission to carry out the programme in his jurisdiction since according to him he owes allegiance to Awulae Annor Adjaye III only.
- On 28th December, 2022 Nzema Koyele Eku and King Kaku Aka sued the Assembly, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, the Divisional Commander and others at the Sekondi High Court with suit no. 9.10 for opposing the organization of the programme. According to them, the case had been scheduled for hearing on 18th January, 2023.
This development implies that any attempt to go ahead with the programme before the Court determines the case would clearly be in contempt of the Court.
In addition, on 30th December, 2022, the Regional Police Command through an Ex-Parte application secured an order from the Sekondi High Court (MOTION NO. 06/2023) prohibiting King Kaku Aka, Dr. Francis Appoh and Nzema Koyele Eku from holding the King Kaku Aka new year celebration humanitarian aid and fun games day.
Our friends from the media, in spite of the security implications the organizers still decided to go ahead with the programme on 2nd January, 2023 in breach of MUSEC directive. MUSEC was therefore compelled to call for a backup from the Regional Police Command and National Security to beef up security in the Municipality at the time. In the process the security operatives deemed it strategic to stop the programme altogether instead of allowing it to degenerate into full blown conflict between the factions.
Let me please reemphasize that the decision to cancel the King Kaku Aka new year celebration was aimed at ensuring the maintenance of peace and public safety and was in the best interest of the people of Jomoro. This has nothing to do with me personally, it was simply security experts acting on explicit intelligence by taking preemptive action.
I would like to ask these questions for us to ponder on:
- If indeed Nzema Koyele Eku was solely interested to offer support to widows as presented, why did they not comply with MUSEC directives by preventing the attachment of king Kaku Aka’s name and his presence to the programme?
- Can it be said that Koyele Eku wanted to hide behind the vulnerable in Jomoro to project the image of King Kaku Aka as the King of Nzema?
- Was Koyele Eku prevented by MUSEC from organizing their programme last year when it was not attached to the image of King Kaku Aka?
- Does Koyele Eku believe in the mandate of Municipal Security Council in Jomoro?
- Does Koyele Eku recognizes the authority of the Assembly headed by the Municipal Chief Executive who represents the President of the Republic of Ghana?
As a Chief Executive, my mandate and aim is to ensure peace and development for the people of Jomoro. I am not here for any chieftaincy dispute neither do I belong to any chieftaincy faction.
When finality is brought to any protracted chieftaincy issue in court and supported by the relevant documents and brought to the attention of the Assembly, I will pay homage to the said chief.
On that note, thank you for the audience in addressing this issue.
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