Ahead Of Addae Butuw: Okere Youth Rejects Ban On Noise Making-Notice Issued By Akropong-Urges Public To Disregard Noise-Making Ban

The Okere Youth Association (OYA) in Okere of the Eastern Region has sharply rejected a notice about a ban on noise-making issued by the Akropong Paramountcy, calling on the general public to disregard it.

According to the Association, which serves as the mouth piece of all the Youth of Okere, a settler has no powers to issue directives or instructions to natives.

"A settler has no rights over a native the same way even the dead body of the landlord is more powerful than the living body of the tenant," the Association warned.

In a strongly worded press statement issued by the association's leadership—namely Daniel Adu Richard, George Darko, Mathew Larbi, and Isaac Owusu Asamoah—and copied to the Soireenews.com, the association pointed out that they had seen informal notices circulating which claimed Akropong had banned noise-making within the entire Akuapem enclave; they added that while they had not yet seen an official statement to that effect, they had heard reports of such a directive.

According to the statement, a day or two ago, the residents heard that some settlers at Akropong attacked some natives of the State of Abiriw claiming that they were breaching the noise making order of Akropong (Addae butuu).

The statement stated that not only did this come as a shock to us but we were taken aback by the disrespectful manner in which natives of the land were attacked by settlers.

The statement reiterated that the Okere Youth Association is the mouth piece of all the Youth of Okere and we stand by our brothers and sisters at Abiriw who were needlessly attacked.

The statement sets the record straight that a settler has no powers to issue directives or instructions to natives.*

The statement stressed that the Akropong is a settler community within Akuapem and it has no powers to issue instructions or directives to cover the entire Akuapem enclave.

"We therefore, issue this notice to all the Chiefs and citizens of Okere to ignore such directives coming from Akropong and to disregard it.

"We will not allow settlers we've permitted to live on our land to be dictating to us," the statement warned.

For the record, the statement stressed that Akropong has no powers over anyone in Akuapem.

The statement asserted that the people in Okere realize that this notice from us may surprise some people who don't know anything about Akuapem and so we will use this opportunity to educate the entire Ghanaian public about the facts of Akuapem.

According to the statement, the entire Akuapem land is owned by the people of Okere and Larteh who are Guans. We are the ones who broke the virgin forest and converted the land to our use.

Subsequently, and due to our friendly and warm nature, the people of Okere permitted Akropong people who are from Akyem to settle with us. We also permitted the Aburi people and the Amanokrom people to also settle on our land.

"People may ask why Akropong is the Paramount Chief if they are settlers and that is a very good question.

"The fact is that the Paramountcy was a creation of the colonial government using divide and rule tactics so the British found it convenient to create a Paramountcy within the natives using the settlers.

"Our forefathers on so many occasions tried to fight it but each time the colonial government would back the settlers making it difficult to change it," the statement explained.

Unfortunately, the statement noted that even after the introduction of democracy and constitutional rule as far back as 1992, our own government hasn't made any effort to change and correct such a wrong perpetuated on us by the colonial government.

"We know that a lot of stories have been peddled around claiming that we the natives could not pay off the Akyem people who came to assist us fight the war against the Akwamu people hence they became our Paramount Chief but we want to place it on record that, that story is a made up story to divert attention from the wrongful imposition of the settlers on us the natives by the colonial government," the statement said.

The statement noted that the fact remains that it was not only the Akyem people who came to assist us with the war but our brothers from Krobo came to assist us.

According to the statement "Our brothers from Ga also assisted us and all of these our brothers left back where they came from after the war so did they also not ask to be paid? And if they were not paid then why did they not also stay to rule us?

The statement indicated that the people of Okere know Akropong has been peddling a lot of falsehoods for so many years so people think what they have been saying is true but what we want people to know is that it is not the settler who tells the story of the natives.

It explained that When you come help me fight a war, you are not the one to tell my story to the world.

The statement wants the whole world to know that everything Akropong says about Akuapem they have no right to say it because they are settlers and a settler has no rights to tell the story of the natives. When you come and live with me you have no right to tell my story to the world.

Everything Akropong has told the world about Akuapem should be rejected as they are not the ones to tell our story.

According to the statement, the people of the Okere rejected Akropong Paramountcy and anything that comes from it.

"We the Youth of Okere stand together and we will resist any attempts to impose Akropong on us and we are asking our Chiefs to desist from having anything to do with Akropong henceforth.

"We need an Okere that rules itself and not ruled by a settler.

"On this note, we ask all Okere Chiefs and citizens to ignore any directives coming from Akropong and to go about their daily lives as normal and in accordance with the law as they have always done.

"We the Guans are very peaceful people and luckily each State within Okere has its own territory, its own land and its own set of rules that governs them," it stressed 

Also, the statement said Akropong people live on the land given to them which is separate and distinct from the land on which the Okere citizens live on.

In essence, the statement revealed that each entity lives on its own land and so it is wrongful for Akropong who lives on its own land to try to impose its will on the Okere and Larteh people who live separately from them since time immemorial till today.

"We want to make it clear that any attack or violence that is occasioned by this needless and unwarranted directives can only occur if settlers of Akropong move from their land to the land of Okere which is exactly what they did when they entered the State of Abiriw to attack the natives there.

"We don't want a fight with anyone, but if we are attacked we will respond.

The statement pointed out that they wanted the whole world to know that all the troubles that go on at Akuapem is caused by the Akropong people who always want to dominate and subdue we the natives.

According to the statement, it is their disrespectful and bad behavior which is the source of all troubles at Akuapem.

Recently, and from nowhere, the statement revealed that the natives of Okere and Larteh were publicly humiliated when one of the Akropong Chiefs openly stated that we the kyerepongs are kyereton because we were captured during the days of slavery which is a blatant lie unsupported by any facts.

The statement said the chiefs and people of Okere have always been subjected to incessant attacks, humiliation, disrespect, provocation and abuse in the hands of these settlers who have no regard for us and think that they can do as they please on our land.

It said that now that they have decided to enter our territory to attack we the natives, we are advising ourselves going forward.

The statement asked all Okere Chiefs and citizens to pay no regard to any directives or instructions from Akropong.