The Paramount Chief of New Juaben, Daasebre Professor (Emeritus) Oti Boateng has responded to a rejoinder written by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Nana Amoatia Ofori Panin in response to a series of protestations the New Juaben ruler had written concerning the restructuring of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs (ERHC).
According to Daasebre Oti Boateng, his response to the Okyenhene’s rejoinder is to set the record straight concerning certain allegations leveled against him which he says are unfounded and an attempt to cover up the faults of the ERHC’s restructuring.
The Okyenhene had earlier responded to Daasebre Oti Boateng’s letters of protestations claiming the latter’s absence from ERHC meetings over the past seven years was the reason why he “probably had no idea of the new legislations put in place by the ERHC” and thus his protestations were merely a misrepresentation of facts.
The Okyenhene had also denied claims of excluding the New Juaben Traditional Council from the newly restructured ERHC.
However, in response to the claims made by the Okyenhene, Daasebre Oti Boateng says his letters of protestations are backed by documentary evidence.
According to the Omanhene of New Juaben, “Notwithstanding the last minute inclusion of New Juaben in the LI alluded to in Okyenhene’s rejoinder, the intent by the leadership of the ERHC to exclude New Juaben has been established beyond every reasonable doubt by authentic documentary evidence.
“This intent is proven with an almost sure probability. The statement issued through your lawyers is nothing more than a monumental attempt to cover-up the truth.”
Concerning the issue of allowances paid to the Omanhene even though he was absent from meetings, Daasebre Oti Boateng replied saying the Okyenhene had only distorted the truth to serve his purpose.
He said, “All Paramount Chiefs enjoy standard legitimate allowance to which I am entitled. It is false for Okyenhene to state that I collect sitting allowance which is only paid for attending meetings.
“For several years between 2000 and 2011, Okyenhene never attended any meeting of the House yet he collected his standard allowance. The records are there to show. So what is the motive behind bringing this pointless and hugely tangential issue into the debate under consideration?”
Daasebre Oti Boateng says he fervently and zealously stands by his letters of protestations, “and would again emphasise that, had it not been the prudent last-minute intervention by the National House leadership aided by our ancestral spirits, New Juaben Divisional Chiefs would have been perpetually disenfranchised from the proposed composition of ERHC.”
He however called for an end to the matter “to preserve the sanctity of the Chieftaincy institution.”
Source: GhanaFeed.Com
