The installation of a new chief for the people of Asamankama in the Offinso Traditional Area almost turned bloody on Thursday afternoon in the Offinso South Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
While one group which was not in favour of the installation tried to prevent the process from taking place, the other group tried to make sure the new chief was successfully installed as custom demands.
In the process of the misunderstanding, calm could not be restored when one teenager (age not yet known) who was wielding a locally-manufactured gun fired warning shots to deter the angry group from preventing the installation.
Eye witness account available to the ghanacrimereport.com show that members of the angry group who managed to run not far away from the scene of the installation resorted to stone-throwing, where in the process they succeeded in using stones as weapons to kill the teenager who identity is not yet known.
Being hit by the stones and rushed to the St. Patrick’s Hospital at Offinso, he was pronounced dead on arrival.
His body has however, been deposited at the morgue of the St. Patrick’s Hospital pending autopsy while some four others who were with the deceased during the stoning spree, who sustained serious injuries had been rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for treatment.
Peaceful Chieftaincy reign in Offinso
Offinso Traditional Area, under the paramountcy of Nana Wiafe Akenteng III, is noted for its peaceful installation of chiefs.
It is not common to witness installation of chiefs that are being contested in this traditional area.
What happens at Asamankama on Thursday is only one of the few disturbing instances that mar the peaceful nature of culture and tradition as far as chieftaincy is concerned in traditional Ghana.
Offinso however, comes up in ancient Asante history especially, in the war between the people of Asante and Dormaa, hence historic festival: “Mmoa Nni Nk) of the people of Offinso
By Ebenezer Owusu Ansah
