Kingmakers and elders of Ngleshie Alata Traditional stool in James Town in Accra have rubbished the long-standing viral claims by Prince Asharku Bruce Quaye to the effect that he has been installed as a substantive Paramount chief to ascend the throne of James Town Ngleshie Alata Paramount Stool under the Stool name Oblempong Wetse Kojo II.
The kingmakers’ clarification comes in response to viral claims by Prince Bruce-Quaye that he has been installed as chief to ascend the throne of Ngleshie Alata Traditional Royal Stool in James Town.
These claims by Prince Bruce-Quaye were reportedly published in the social media platforms currently.
They served notice that Prince Asharku Bruce- Quaye, who they claimed is styling himself as Paramount Chief of Ngleshie Alata Traditional area in James Town, to stop parading himself as such since he is not one.
According to them, the Ngleshie Alata Judicial Committee in 2015 gave judgement against Prince Asharku–Quaye that he should not parade himself as Anumasa (Kwei Kuma tsoshie ) chief.” a division under Ngleshie Alata stool.
“The time has come for the public to be told the truth about the Ngleshie Alata Paramount Royal Stool brouhaha to ensure that the right thing is done because it is not right for Prince Bruce-Quaye to be causing trouble which is adversely affecting tradtional activities and development in Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area,”
“We have not sanctioned the installation of any chief so the said self-styled Chief must not be taken serious and any transactions that would be entered with him shall be nullified in the fullness of time,” they vowed.
“If you [referring to Prince Bruce Quaye] are still peddling falsehoods in the public domain that you are the rightful Paramount chief of Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area in Jamestown, we the true citizens of Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area are challenging you to come out publicly to tell us which of the families of the two ruling royal gates–Ajumako Dwurampong and Adanse you are coming from.”
“The Ajumaku Dwurampong and Adanse were the two ruling gates where the paramount Ngleshie Alata is considered but Prince Bruce-Quaye is not coming from any of these two ruling houses. Prince Bruce-Quaye hails from Anumansa, Kweikuma Tsoshie. So we’re barring him from claiming be to a chief,” they warned Prince Bruce-Quaye.
They stresed that members of Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs from Dodowa and National House of Chiefs from Kumasi have no right and capacity to install or decide who becomes a substantive paramount of Ngleshie Alata Traditional Royal Stool.
They alleged that Prince Bruce-Quaye has surrounded himself with some violence thugs since he [Prince Bruce-Quaye] surely knows that his chieftaincy status is very questionable.
“We are using this media outlets to advise the National Security operatives, Bureau of National Investigations, Ghana’s internal security and counterintelligence agency to commission a full scale of investigation into the family records of Bruce-Quaye. They must conduct a thorough search on Prince Bruce Quaye before they should be given maximum powers and protection to him.
“We wish to repeat that Prince Asharku Bruce-Quaye hails from Anumansa, Kweikuma Tsoshie, under the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area in Jamestown, Accra. So he can’t be a chief at Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area,” they set the record straight.
Preciously, they revealed that Prince Ashiaku Bruce Quaye was installed as a sub-chief of Anunmasa We but he was destooled.
“So why is it that Prince Asharku Bruce-Quaye who was destooled by his own Anumansa family elders would be forcibly claiming the ascension to Ngleshie Traditional Royal Paramount Stool.? God forbid we aren’t going to accept him as our paramount chief,” the youths rhetorically asked.
They asserted that the name Wetse Kojo II was historically assigned to the late Henry George Vanderpuye, who was installed as chief on January 27, 1939.
It will be recalled that Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio V, the late Paramount Chief of Ngleshie Alata passed away on December 22, 2017 after ruling for thirty-nine (39) years, after which a faction emerged and illegally and unlawfully enstooled Prince William Asharku Bruce-Quaye, on Friday February 1, 2018, to be the successor to the departed chief.
But the decision by a faction of the Alata Ngleshie Traditional Council, to enstool Prince William Asharku Bruce-Quaye under the stool Wetse Kojo II, as the rightful claimant to the paramount stool has been challenged.
In a quick rebuttal, they renewed their rejection of the recent induction of Prince Asharku-Bruce Quaye into the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.
As a result, they stated categorically that any new claimant should be referred to as Wetse Kojo III, not Wetse Kojo II, hence the current claimant is fraudulently using the title.
They provided a documentary proof signed by
the then Provincial Commissioner’s Office in
1935 dated November 10, 1941 which stated that “….Dealing with the findings of the Ga State Council, it will be seen that after an exhaustive enquiry the Council recommends that His Excellency be pleased to accept the election and installation of Henry George Vanderpuye to be the Mantse of Alata, James Town, under the Stool name Wetse Kojo II, with effect from the 27th January, 1939.”
With these details, they condemned the induction of Prince Asharku-Bruce Quaye by the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs as premature and illegitimate.
They criticised the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, particularly its president, Oboade Notse King Professor Odaifio Welentsi III, for allegedly disregarding due process.
They revealed that the chieftaincy dispute remains unresolved in court, yet the House of Chiefs proceeded with the induction, an act they described as unlawful and further accused Prince Asharku-Bruce Quaye of bypassing a court directive by having his registration form signed by an unauthorized official rather than the Registrar of the Ngleshie Alata Stool.
With tensions running high, they called on national security agencies and government officials, including President John Dramani Mahama, Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohamed-Mubarak, and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, to step in and resolve the crisis before it escalates further.
The group raised concerns over the legitimacy of Wetse Kojo II, originally known as Prince Asharku Bruce Quaye.
They ndicated that Wetse Kojo II is not a royal, nor does he come from the two royal ruling gates– Ajumako Dwurampong and Adanse where the chief of Jamestown, Ngleshie Alata, is considered.
They said the recent gazette given to Prince Asharku Bruce for the Ngleshie Jamestown paramountcy is a clear case of fraudulent and corrupt practices by the National House of Chiefs.
It was the case of the group that the paramountcy has two royal families, which are the ruling houses, and the occupancy of the throne rotates between Ajumako Dwurampong and Adanse ruling gates.
According to them, the Ajumako Dwurampong family has had their turn after the demise of Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio V, who reigned for 39 years from 1978 to 2017.
They indicated that Prince Bruce Quaye does not come from any of the royal families, and his own family members have dissociated themselves from the ongoing chieftaincy dispute in the paramountcy but rather hail from Anumansa, Kweikuma Tsonshie.
It is the argument of they that when the forms of Mr. Bruce Quaye were also sent to the House Chiefs, they petitioned it, raising concerns about pending cases before the Accra High Court and Dodowa.
They pointed out that the Dodowa case Suit No. GARHC/P5/2020 at the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs barred Mr. Bruce Quaye from holding himself as the paramount chief in the area.
‘’ Prince Asharku Bruce Quaye’s enstoolment as Ngleshie Alata Mantse was not complete. He hasn’t went through all the necessary customary rites at the Ngleshie Alata Palace, and Weija and hasn’t been enstooled as Wetse Kojo II, Paramount Chief of Ngleshie Alata, Jamestown.
They warned companies operating on the lands in the area not to engage with Nii Bruce or pay any money to him since they would be doing so at their own risk.
‘’We are also aware that some people are making frantic efforts to take compensation from the government in respect of properties compulsorily acquired from Ngleshie Alata Stool, and we assure all and sundry that every effort will be made to resist such ill intended attempts.’’
They stresed that there were unseen political hands interfering with the institution of chieftaincy while adding there were other institutions, including the Ghana Police Service, Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs which they alleged are giving support and protection to Prince Bruce-Quaye.
They declared that a gazette can never be used as a tool or subterfuge to court state support to subvert the will, the traditions, customs, practice, and usage of the people of Ngleshie Alata Jamestown.
‘’A person must be customary chief before being registered or gazetted to be a statutory chief and not vice versa.’’
“We are therefore sending a warning out there that they cannot be intimidated and that they will stand and resist the oppressor’s rule.
“We still have faith in the judiciary, calling on it as the last resort and associated with the dictum of Lord Hewart: ‘’Justice must not only be done but seen to be done’’.
‘’We call on President to intervene in the current situation at Ngleshie Alata James Town to ensure that justice is done and a peaceful and lasting solution is achieved.’’
They stressed that although Mr. Bruce Quaye had been gazetted, he has not undergone any customary rites, and he is now going around asking to be taken through the customary rites.
‘’We are appealing to all Ngleshie indigenous people to bury their differences and resist any attempt to impose Mr. Bruce as their chief.
“We will not be intimidated; we will not allow anyone to destroy our tradition and impose an imposter on us as our chief. Let’s unite and ensure that the individual who is not a royal is parading himself as a chief.
He has been gazetted; however, he has not been issued with the certified true copy of an extract from the National Registrar of Chiefs due to the court processes served on the Chief Registrar.’’
The group asked Prince whether he has undergone any customary rites.
“We want Prince Asharku Bruce-Quaye to be asked whether he has performed any customary rites since the death of the substantive Ngleshie Alata Paramount chief, the group asked Bruce-Quaye.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
