General News of Friday, 19 October 2018
Source: classfmonline.com
2018-10-19
Edward Doe Adjaho, Former Speaker of Parliament
Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI, Paramount Chief / President, Avenor Traditional Council, has petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene in a festering chieftaincy crisis which could ignite conflict in connection with the celebration of the 5th Atsyiame Tutuza festival.
Portions of the petition read: “Attention is drawn to the planned celebration of an alleged Festival christened “ATSYIAME TUTUZA” on Saturday 20th October 2018 at Dagbamate, Akatsi South District, Volta Region by Torgbui Samlafo IV, a sub-chief within the Avenor Traditional Council, who claims to be the Paramount Chief of Atsyiame Traditional Area, a fictional entity being prop by Torgbui Sri III, Paramount Chief of Anlo Traditional Council; instigated by Edward Doe Adjaho, former Speaker of Parliament. (Please find attached a copy of the brochure for the planned celebration marked Appendix A)
“It beats our imagination that even after the restoration of the Avenor Traditional Council on the 14th December 2017, Torgbui Samlafo IV, Togbui Sri III, Edward Doe Adjaho and their cohorts are continuing their attempts to stoke chaos and conflict within the state of Avenor.
“We the chiefs and people of the Avenor Traditional Council will not allow the supposed celebration of the Atsyiame TutuZa to happen, and we are by this petition calling on the Inspector General of Police to call the aforementioned personalities to order and enforce the laws of the country. We have repeatedly and abundantly made it clear to all well-meaning people who care to know, that Torgbui Samlafo IV is a sub-chief who owes allegiance to Torgbui Amegavieso V, Dusifiaga/ senior divisional right-wing Chief of the Avenor State.”
Read full petition below…
HIS EXCELLENCY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO
PRESIDENT REPUBLIC OF GHANA
JUBILEE HOUSE
ACCRA
RE: PLANNED CELEBRATION OF 5TH ATSYIAME TUTUZA BY THE SO-CALLED ATSYIAME TRADITIONAL AREA.
Attention is drawn to the planned celebration of an alleged Festival christened “ATSYIAME TUTUZA” on Saturday 20th October,2018 at Dagbamate, Akatsi South District, Volta Region by Torgbui Samlafo IV , a sub-Chief within the Avenor Traditional Council ,who claims to be Paramount Chief of Atsyiame Traditional Area, a fictional entity being prop by Torgbui Sri III , Paramount Chief of Anlo Traditional Council, instigated by Edward Doe Adjaho, former Speaker of Parliament.(Please find attached a copy of the brochure for planned celebration, marked Appendix A)
2. It beats our imagination that even after the restoration of the Avenor Traditional Council on the 14th December 2017 Torgbui Samlafo IV, Togbui Sri III, Edward Doe Adjaho and their cohorts are continuing their attempts to stoke chaos and conflict within the state of Avenor.
3. We the Chiefs and people of the Avenor Traditional Council will not allow the supposed celebration of the Atsyiame TutuZa to happen, and we are by this petition calling on the Inspector General of Police to call the aforementioned personalities to order and enforce the Laws of the country.
4. We have repeatedly and abundantly made it clear, to all well-meaning people who care to Know, that Torgbui Samlafo IV is a sub-Chief, who owes allegiance to Torgbui Amegavieso V, Dusifiaga/ senior divisional right-wing Chief of the Avenor State.
5. Further, Atsyiame (a stylistic spelling of ATSIAME) of which Torgbui Samlafo IV claims to be Paramount Chief is but one of thirteen (13) clans within the Avenor State.
6. As one of the thirteen (13) clans of the Avenor State, members of the ATSIAME clan are dispersed within the State of Avenor, and it is pertinent to note that, there is no single town/village populated exclusively by members of the ATSIAME clan.
7. Besides, the claim by Torgbui Samlafo IV to be Paramount Chief of ATSYIAME/ATSIAME is fictional/ fictitious and is calculated to misrepresent the facts on the ground because ATSYIAME/ ATSIAME is not a physical location and can therefore not constitute a Traditional Area.
8. The State of Avenor is made up of thirteen (13) clans and we have only one Paramount Chief called Togbe Dorglo Anumah VI and he is supported by Torgbui Aklime Adifu IV, the Awadada or Field Marshall, Torgbui Amegavieso V, Senior Divisional Right Wing Chief, and Torgbui Sakpaku IX, Senior divisional Left wing Chief.
7. We of the Avenor Traditional Council have noticed that the venue for the said festival is “DAGBAMATE-ATSYIAME”. Please take note and notice is hereby served that there is no such place as “DAGBAMATE-ATSYIAME”, this is a further attempt by Torgbui Samlafo IV and his cohorts to obfuscate the facts to serve their evil purpose of undermining the unity and cohesion of the state of Avenor.
“DAGBAMATE” which is the rightful name of the venue of the festival is part and parcel of Avenor State. (Please find attached a list of towns and villages within the Avenor Traditional Council, marked Appendix B)
8. We have been watching with growing concern developments in the town of DAGBAMATE, where a well-known deity is domiciled. As much as we, of the Avenor Traditional Council, uphold the right of freedom of worship and of religion as enshrined in the Constitution of Ghana, we regret to say that the deity domiciled in DAGBAMATE, of which we are reliably informed that Togbui Sri III, Torgbui Samlafo IV and Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho are prominent members, is serving as the fountainhead that is encouraging this flagrant disregard for the customs, practices, and usages of the Chiefs and people of Avenor that has been exhibited regarding this matter.
9. We are aware that the leaders of this cult are aiding and abetting the illegal actions of Torgbui Samlafo IV with the active support of Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho and Torgbui Sri III, so as to legitimise/regularise the cult and seek to establish recognition for a fictitious central authority they feel can rally more people to their course/religion.
10. In their attempt to create and establish a hierarchy Torgbui Samlafo IV has appointed certain Chiefs namely: Torgbui Kludzi IV, as right-wing Chief, Torgbui Klu Agudzeamegah II, as Awadada and Torgbui Adzadzi, as left-wing Chief. These are sub-Chiefs within the jurisdiction of the Avenor Traditional Council.
11. We of the Avenor Traditional Council have no desire or inclination to elevate Torgbui Samlafo IV or any other Chief to any status higher than what has long been established in our domain, as we are fully aware of the repercussions of such actions.
12. The Avenor paramountcy, as has been established by research conducted by D.A. Chapman, an eminent scholar, as far back as 1945, is an independent State whose Paramount Chief is of equal status as the Paramount Chief of Anlo, Some, Aflao, Dzodze and other sister states in the Southern Volta Region. (Please find attached a copy of a portion of a report on the status of the Avenor Paramountcy, marked Appendix C)
13. This conclusion was further confirmed by research conducted by Professor G.K. Nukunya, a Sociology Professor and one time Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, published in his paper: Kinship, Marriage, and Family: A Study of the Influence of Contemporary Social Change on an Ewe Tribe, 1964.
14. We, therefore, wonder by what token Torgbui Samlafo IV will claim that Torgbui Sri III, whose gazette documents clearly lists him as a Paramount Chief equal in status to Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI, Paramount Chief of Avenor, elevated him to the status of Paramountcy. To the best of our knowledge, such claim is merely grounded in ignorance and is for all intents and purposes null and void; because the State of Anlo is different and distinct from the State of Avenor. Besides, Torgbui Sri III has no such powers of fiat over/ within the domain of the Avenor Traditional Council.
15. Furthermore, the co-membership of the two (Torgbui Sri III and Torgbui Samlafo IV) in a deity provides no legitimate grounds for an elevation to any status whatsoever; and worse such an exercise is alien to the customs, practices, and usages of the Avenor State.
16. We believe it is this same reasoning that guided the rejection of an application for Gazette filed by the Anlo Traditional Council to have Torgbui Samlafo IV gazetted as Paramount Chief somewhere in 2016.
17. Last year a similar attempt to celebrate this festival was quashed by an injunction granted through suit No. E13/03/2018 by Emmanuel Ankamah, Esq., judge of the High Court of Sogakope, Central Tongu District. So we are at a loss as to why Torgbui Samlafo Iv keeps repeating such fruitless action. (Please find attached a copy of the injunction granted under suit No.E13/03/2018 dated 18 October 2017, marked Appendix D)
18. It is regrettable that Torgbui Samlafo Iv keeps referring to outdated and long overturned historical documents as grounds for his purported elevation. He obviously is in the throws over former glories long lost by his predecessor. It is instructive to note that, Torgbui Samlafo III , his immediate predecessor was demoted from his position of “Asafohenega” (senior divisional Chief ) to “Asafohene” (sub-Chief) in a legal tussle between he and Torgbui Amegavieso V, based on the findings of the Chieftaincy Committee chaired by Nene Azzu Mate Kole, then Paramount Chief of Manya Krobo Traditional Area, which is listed in the Ghana Local Government Bulletin published by authority No. 23, Friday 23rd May, 1969.
19. We are by this petition serving notice of the shenanigans of Torgbui Sri III, which we feel is calculated to undermine the hegemony of the State of Avenor and has the potential of threatening the peace and security of the Southern Volta Region, and the whole of the country for that matter.
20. Humbly submitted for your necessary action.
Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI
(Paramount Chief / President Avenor Traditional Council)
Torgbui Aklime Adifu IV
(Awadada/ Field Marshall Avenor Traditional Council)
Torgbui Amegavieso V
(Senior Divisional Right Wing Chief, Avenor Traditional Council)
Torgbui Sakpaku IX
(Senior Divisional Left Wing Chief Avenor Traditional Council)
LIST OF APPENDIXES ATTACHED
1. APPENDIX A: COPY OF THE BROCHURE FOR THE PLANNED CELEBRATION.
2. APPENDIX B: LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES WITHIN THE AVENOR TRADITIONAL COUNCIL.
3. APPENDIX C: COPY OF PORTION OF A REPORT ON THE STA TUS OF THE AVENOR. PARAMOUNTCY
4. APPENDIX D: COPY OF INJUNCTION NO. E13/03/2018 GRANTED 18TH OCTOBER 2017.