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War drums are beating at Asankragwa in the Wassa-Amenfi District of the Western Region, following attempts by the Agona Clan of the traditional area to install a chief, which a rival, the Ahene Clan, has sworn to oppose. The police are reportedly going court to for judicial intervention, by way of an interim injunction on the installation. Reports from the ground suggest that already, people are quietly fleeing to avoid being entangled in the anticipated clash. The Chronicle investigations revealed that the present situation has come about following the death of Nana Anyani Boadum III, who occupied the Asankragwa stool for 62 years. It came to light that Abusuapanyin Asamoah Tannor, a pensioner and resident of Asankragwa, has gone to the Wassa-Amenfi Traditional Council at Wassa Akropong and sworn an affidavit that the stool of Asankragwa is owned by the Ahene Family of Asankragwa. He further said that it was members of the said Ahene Family who had ascended the stool of Asankragwa since its creation, and that the immediate past occupant of the stool, in the person of Nana Anyani Boadum, was himself an Ahene, before he joined the Agona family, which was sworn to by Opanyin Kwame Nsowa, a former regent of Wassa Agona. And that the Ahene family resisted and challenged the conduct of Nana Anyani Boadum, which sparked off communal violence at Asankragwa. In view of the disturbances, the Western Regional Security Council tasked the Omanhene of Wassa-Amenfi to investigate the matter, find out the owners of the Asankragwa stool, and report to the Council. The report of the Omanhene confirmed that the stool of Asankragwa belongs to the Ahene family. An attempt by Nana Anyani Boadum to quash the contents of the Omanhene�s report before the High Court at Sekondi was unsuccessful. The Abusuapanyin�s affidavit at the Traditional Council stated that the Ahene family of Asankragwa, through himself and two others, sued Nana Anyani Boadum before the Judicial Committee of the Wassa-Amenfi Traditional Council, and obtained an order restraining him from styling himself as the chief of Asankragwa, and also from having any dealings with the stool lands, stool revenue, and royalties accruing to the stool of Asankragwa. The affidavit further stated that Nana Anyani Boadum breached the terms of the injunction, and was cited for contempt before the High Court at Sekondi, which convicted him of contempt, and he was sentenced accordingly. It additionally states that Nana Boadum had gone to join the ancestors (death), and that the Agonas are feverishly preparing to install a candidate to occupy the stool of Asankragwa, contrary to the custom, usage and traditions of the people. The following day, 18th July, 2014, Tackie Otoo and Company, legal practitioners, wrote to the Western Regional Police Commander at Sekondi, informing him of the situation on the ground, and stated that Abusuapanyin Appiah Dwaa, in conjunction with Ohemaa Ama Boa of the same Agona family, were feverishly planning to install a chief to succeed the late chief. The lawyers further stated that their client is armed with an action before the Judicial Committee of the Wassa-Amenfi Traditional Council to challenge their conduct, and an application for injunction to restrain them from carrying out that exercise. It further stated that the two persons leading the installation have gone into hiding to evade service of the court process on them. When contacted, Abusuapanyin Appiah Dwaa stated that the installation will come off as planned, and that reports that tension is brewing in the area must be treated with contempt. The Registrar of the Wassa-Amenfi Traditional Council, Mr. Anthony Yeboah Tabiri, when reached, confirmed that after the death of the chief about a month ago, the Ahene family filed a petition to the council, and that it was yet to meet to finalise the issue between the two clans, only to realise that the Agona family was planning to install a chief on Monday July 28, 2014. He also confirmed that the two persons to be served with the order have gone into hiding. Meanwhile the police are moving feverishly to curb the agitations. The Tarkwa Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Paul Ayitey, stated that from accounts presented to him by the District Police Commander at Asankragwa, the next line of police action would be to proceed to court to restrain the Agona family from installing a chief until such a time that the situation becomes conducive. The Coordinating Director of the Wassa Amenfi District Assembly, Mr. Abubakari Alhassan, on his part, said that there had not been any official communication to the District Security Committee (DISEC) of any rival faction to the planned installation of the chief. However, at a DISEC meeting on Tuesday, the District Police Commander for Asankragwa informed the Security Committee of a letter from the Ahene family to the Regional Police Commander, stating its frustration at serving the Agona family with the Judicial Committee�s order. According to him, hitherto, the DISEC had no knowledge of any rival faction, and now that there exists one, the Security Committee is going to take a second look at the situation. Mr. Alhassan further said that he was promised of a Traditional Council meeting on Thursday, July 24, 2014, and that whatever decision the council arrives at, the DISEC would uphold it in order to bring and maintain peace to Wassa-Amenfi. Stay tuned!