Reports Of Cancelation Of This Year's Akuapim Odwira Festival Is Hoax!
The chief of Aburi who doubles as the acting President of the Akuapim Traditional Council in the Eastern Region, Nana Otuobour Djankwasi II, has denied wide spread media reports to the effect that this year's Odwira Festival of the chiefs and people of Okuapeman was cancelled.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater 
The chief of Aburi who doubles as the acting President of the Akuapim Traditional Council in the Eastern Region, Nana Otuobour Djankwasi II, has denied wide spread media reports to the effect that this year's Odwira Festival of the chiefs and people of Okuapeman was cancelled.
"This is completely misleading reports and misrepresentation of the facts sent by the media practitioners to the Ghanaian public," Nana Otuobour Djankwasi stated, adding that the Akuapim festival has not been put on hold, and that we are going to celebrate the festival in quite without carrying various chiefs in the palaquins. So that does not mean that we are not celebrating the festival."
"At normal circumstance, on the 3rd August Okuapeman we will celebrate Adae festival then on the 14th September perform the necessary customary rites for Okuapehene, Queenmother or Okoman to pave way for the Odwira festival.
"However due to the chieftaincy dispute we can’t celebrate it in flamboyance. So this does not mean that we have cancelled the festival as it was reported by the media practitioners," Nana Otuobour Djankwasi II explained.
The Oburi Chief,however stated that the traditional and customary rites will be performed on the quiet.
“We have also asked Royal families and divisional chiefs to perform their own customary rites in their homes to celebrate the festival. There will not be durbar and neither the carrying of any chief in paraquins.
"Because as customs demand, it is the Okuapehene who is to perform traditional rite to open the Odwira festival for all other divisional chiefs to celebrate accordingly in their traditional areas before big durbar is held, but because of the pending case against the Okuapehene by the Queen-mother of the Akuapim Traditional Area, Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II at the national house of chiefs we can’t celebrate the festival”
According to him, the chiefs and other traditional office holders have decided to hold the Odwira Festival in the quite atmosphere without carrying chiefs in palanquins, because of litigation on the legitimacy of Paramount Chief of Akuapim Traditional Area, Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III pending before the National House of Chiefs (NHCs).
According to him, the Paramount Queen-mother, Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II protested that she would not allow Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III to ascend the throne for which the case is currently being pursued by the Judicial Committee of the National House of Chiefs.
Speaking in an interview with Soireenews.com,
Nana Otuobour Djankwasi II explained that Judicial Committee have invited the two feuding factions in this mouth for which they believed strongly that they going to resolve the issue between the two parties but the committee had adjoined the case.
The development which, he noted had prevented the Paramount Chief of the area, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III to have full capacity to perform traditions and customs for the stool since his litigatimacy be challenged.
He pointed out that Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III being the Paramount Chief of Akuapim, it is important that he should legally secured his gazette from the National House Chiefs.
"This would gives him the legal backing to head his traditional council, and that since the chieftaincy status of the installed paramount chief of Akuapim Traditional Area was challenged by the Paramount Queen-mother and case is pending before NHCs informed the decision of the traditional authorities of the area to elect him to be acting as the President of Akuapim Traditional Council.
He asserted that the traditional role is performing now is the acting President of the Akuapim Traditional Council and that if the issue before the NHCs challenging the chieftaincy status of the Paramount chief of the area was resolved and the Queen- mother accepted him, he would assume his chieftaincy position."
"So when all the matters are resolved and the Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III was accepted, he would now qualify as the legally, traditionally and customarily installed Paramount Chief to represent the Akuapim Traditional Council in the NHCs and other state programmes," he noted.
He pointed out that the chieftaincy position of Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III highest but because of the pending issue on his chieftaincy status that was the reason they asked him not to be performing any traditional rituals which would land him into contempt.
He noted that when the traditional office holders in the area got the hint of the intended plan by Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III to celebrate the festival they advised him to not do so.
"Because l know that the decision by the paramount chief to defy the court order on restraining him to perform any social events until the final determination of the case to celebrate this year's festival is not in right direction and it would surely lands him into contempt," he stated.
"So if we allow Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III to celebrate this year's festival in that ways, it would showed that the prominent elders of the Akuapim Traditional Area would be blamed that they refused to advise him to refrain from actions to celebrate this year's festival.
"So when we went to Akuapim Traditional Standing Committee Meeting in last week Monday, the members of the committee decided that since the case is being pursued in NHCs, they cannot celebrate the festival in public gatherings for which the chiefs should be carried in their palaquins since Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III who is our Paramount Chief would not be carried in the palaquin because of the pending chieftaincy case against him in NHCs.
As a result of that we decided to this year's in quite matter to ensure that in next year if the matter was resolved, or there is nothing happened then we can celebrate the big durbar in public," the acting President of Akuapim Traditional Council narrated.
He mentioned that if in case it is not even next year or two weeks that the litigation against the chieftaincy status of Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III was resolved in the NHSCs and this celebration of this year's festival has ended after this he can even organize his get-together party with the citizens of the area. If that time Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo wanted to be carried in Palaquin, he can be allowed to do so," the advised the restrained Paramount Chief.
"I don't know the reason why Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III would be rushing to intend to defy the court to celebrate this year's festival when there are rules and regulations in this country.
Recently, he pointed out the court has slapped Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III with contempt and that if not in the grace of God then they cannot heard good news.
"So when it happens like that it really put the names of the citizens of Akuapim Traditional Area in shame and ridiculous.
In this regard, he called Okuapehen Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo IIl excercise restrain saying that "we the elders, kingmakers and traditional office holders are not preventing him from celebrating the festival but since he was restrained he should respect that law and regulations."
He pointed out it is their responsibility as the elders of the area to protect Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akufo III since he has been their Paramount Chief.
He stressed that the series of advises he has been offering to him attest to the fact he is protecting him.
Odwira festival, which commemorates the victory of the Akuapem people at the great Akantamansu war in 1824, also seeks spiritual purification, unity, cultural revival, community development, political stability and promotion of tourism in the area.
