Regent of Katamanso is still Ebenezer Mensah Laryea
The attention of the elders and principal members of the Ruling House of the Adzin-We Family of Katamanso has been drawn to a publication with the above headline that appeared in the Monday June 12, 2017 edition of the Daily Graphic announcing the purported appointment of Nii Laryea
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Afotey-Agbo as the “Katamanso Caretaker Chief’’ and we wish to duly respond to the said publication.
In the first place, there is no position in Katamanso as a “Caretaker Chief” and from time immemorial, whenever it became necessary for someone to be appointed to perform the functions of the Katamanso Chief for reason of incapacity, it is a Regent who is customarily and traditionally appointed.
The appointment is made by the elders and principal members of the Ruling House at a meeting, presided over by the duly recognised Head of Family.
The publication, as carried in the Daily Graphic, indicated in paragraph two thereof that the said Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, who is the Member of Parliament for Kpone-Katamanso “was nominated by the Head of Adjin-we Family of Katamanso, Mr Joseph Odai Laryea, to assist in playing the caretaker role following the incapacitation of his father, Nii Otu Akwetey IX, who is the substantive Chief of Katamanso”.
The publication, as it stands, contains so many inaccuracies and factually incorrect statements. It is to be noted that in Katamanso, appointment of a Regent entails a whole process which starts with the process of nomination, followed by election or selection before a formal appointment is made.
The appointments from time immemorial in Katamanso have always rigidly followed this procedure.
Therefore, assuming, even for the sake of argument, which we deny though, that the purported nomination of Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo were valid, the question to ask is, who elected or selected and eventually appointed him to the so-called position of “Caretaker Chief of Katamanso”. In the light of these facts, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo’s purported appointment is,therefore, misleading and untenable.
Read also: Nii Laryea Agbo appointed Katamanso caretaker chief
It is a fact that the said Joseph Odai Laryea, who is a brother of the substantive Head of the Adzin-We family of Katamanso, is not the Head of the Adzin-We Family of Katamanso.
In his various correspondence with the Lands Commission, the said Joseph Odai Laryea refers to the present Chief of Katamanso as both the Chief of Katamanso as well as the Head of the Adzin-We Family of Katamanso, although customarily, one cannot be both the Head of a Family and the Chief of the Place at the same time.
In fact, the Head of the Adzin-We of Katamanso is one Joshua Kwei Odai, who is an uncle of both the substantive Chief of Katamanso and the said Joseph Odai Laryea.
We wish to inform the general public that the purported appointment was unilaterally made without reference to the elders and principal members as well as the duly recognised Head of the Adzin-We family of Katamanso and is, therefore, customarily and traditionally invalid.
Furthermore, the position of “Caretaker Chief of Katamanso” is unknown to the Katamanso Royal Family since according to custom and tradition, when a substantive chief becomes incapacitated, it is a Regent who is appointed, through due process, to continue in office as a Chief and his functions entail all the functions of a substantive Chief including the attendance of Traditional Council Meetings. There is, therefore, no place in Katamanso Stool affairs for a “Caretaker Chief” who performs only administrative functions.
As corollary to the above, when a Regent is nominated, selected and appointed, no rituals are performed. So the purported performance of rituals by the Osabu Wulomo can at best be described as uncustomary and not in accordance with any known traditional process in relation thereto.
The general public is, therefore, informed that the purported interaction with “members of the community”, as stated in the publication by Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, was rather an interaction with his cronies which was stage-managed to give the unlawful event some semblance of legitimacy which must, therefore, be disregarded.
The general public is hereby further informed that a Regent, in the person of Ebenezer Mensah Laryea, was duly appointed and published in the August 22, 2015 edition of the Daily Graphic.
We are, therefore, calling on the general public to disregard the purported appointment of Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo as “Caretaker Chief of Katamanso” since it is null and void and without any effect.
Yours faithfully
Seth Otu Okley (Salami)
For and on behalf of the
Principal Members of the Adzin-We
Family of Katamanso
Humi Akrowa
Green Oak St.
Katamanso