Wassa Ateiku, one of the few traditional towns in the Wassa East district of the western region, has a population of over eight thousand people.
The town has seen five successive chiefs from the “Ekuona I Royal family, who form the kingmakers of the Ateiku stool.
The first chief who began the ascension of the Wassa Ateiku throne was Nana Ntraadaa I, who ruled in the early 1820s and was succeeded by Nana Gyabeng I, who also reigned from 1889–1945.
Nana Wiredu became the third chief from 1945–1960, while the fourth chief was Nana Ntraadaa II, who occupied the throne from 1973–2015.
The fifth chief, who is the current chief of Wassa Ateiku, is Nana Kwaku Gyabeng II, who also ascended the high throne in 2016 after the demise of his late uncle Nana Ntraadaa II.
Nana Kwaku Gyabeng II, who was customarily installed as the chief of Wassa Ateiku in 2016, has never seen peace since he was enthroned.
Since 2016, a group called “Asare Opong and Katadafour,” who are believed to be aliens from no traceable route and have no jurisdiction in the Ateiku royal family, has invaded the town, challenging the legitimacy of Nana Kwaku Gyabeng II as the legitimate chief of Wassa Ateiku.
The legal battle began in 2016, immediately after Nana Kwaku Gyabeng II was installed, and gained more prominence in 2019.
It all started at the judicial council of Wassa Fiase traditional council to the Tarkwa High Court and finally ended at the Court of Appeal in Accra on May 9, 2024, where the court eventually made a final determination of the prolonged chieftaincy banter.
Ruling on the case, the three Appeal Court justices ruled that the earlier ruling by the Tarkwa High Court on March 30, 2023, quashing the ruling of the judicial council of the Wassa Fiase traditional council, which allowed the other group “Asare Opong and Katadafour” to carry themselves as the royal family of Wassa Ateiku, is a right judgment and that the judge did not err in her judgement, therefore, it stands, hence no group whatsoever from Asare Opong and Katadafour should carry themselves as the royal family of Wassa Ateiku, stool.
Now, given the legal backing to be the only chief of Wassa Ateiku, Nana Kwaku Gyabeng II is calling on all natives of Wassa Ateiku who went into self-exile due to the volatile chieftaincy issue in the area to come back home to help the development of the town because there is peace, unity, and stability in Wassa Ateiku.
Source: republiconline
