Paramount Chief of Berekum swears oath to Asantehene

The Paramount Chief of Berekum Traditional Area in the Brong Ahafo Region, Daasebre Amankona  Diawuo II, has sworn an oath of allegiance to the occupant of the Golden Stool,  Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

Riding in a palanquin, amid drumming and dancing at the forecourt of the Manhyia Palace moments before he swore the oath of allegiance, Daasebre  Amankona  Diawuo, who is known in private life as Dr Leo Ofori and belongs to the Kontire division— the right wing of the Asanteman Council, was introduced by the Bantamahene, Baffour Owusu Asare
Amankwatia V,  who is the head of the Kontire division, as tradition demands.

Other paramount chiefs who joined the Bantamahene to introduce Daasebre Amankona Diawuo to the Asantehene included the Paramount Chief of Asokore, Nana Dr Susubribi Krobea Asante, and the Asokore-Mamponghene, Nana Boakye Ansah  Debrah, who is also the head of the right wing division of the Kumasi Traditional Council.

A medical practitioner and surgical specialist by profession, Daasebre Amankona Diawuo was involved in  a legal tussle over his enstoolment, but was eventually cleared by the Brong Ahafo House of Chiefs and the Supreme Court, making it possible for him to swear the oath of allegiance to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II during a sitting  of the Asanteman Council.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu recounted the historical facts which traced Berekum as part of  Asanteman long before the Asante Confederacy in 1935.

He said the Berekum paramountcy had been part of Asanteman for  many years and therefore charged Daasebre Amankona Diawuo to initiate programmes and policies that would accelerate the pace of development in his traditional area.

That, he said, would raise the standard of living of the people for him to leave a legacy that would be  cherished by the present and future generations.

Moments after Daasebre Amankona Diawuo had sworn the oath of allegiance, Berekum citizens who had filled the Manhyia Palace in their numbers started jubilating amid drumming and dancing.