Akyem and Ashanti advance relations

Kyebi, Aug. 24, GNA - The Ashanti and Akyem Traditional kingdoms have committed to advance the relations between them for the mutual benefit of their people.

The two kingdoms have also affirmed their common heritage and have demystified the age-long seeming rivalry between them.

At a colourful and historic durbar to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the death of Nana Ofori-Atta, the Late Okyehene, who died in 1943, both states exhibited goodwill and camaraderie towards each other, with the attendance of Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll, the Asantehene, to the event.

The Asantehene’s arrival was steeped in typical Akan royal culture, with a retinue of more than 21 chiefs from the Ashanti Kingdom, amidst poignant evocation of native tunes and drum appellations, the firing of muskets, cheers and dances.

This is the first official visit of an Ashanti King to Akyem Abuakwa.

The event was attended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his wife, Rebecca, former President Jerry John Rawlings, and his wife, Nana Konadu, the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Aaron Ocquaye, Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo and Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen.

The Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panyin II, in his address, expressed profound gratitude to the Ashantehene for honouring the invitation to be part of the celebration of the life of the late Akyem Royal.

He said the Otumfuo’s epoch-making visit to the Akyem Abuakwa State showed that there was no love lost between the two kingdoms as was erroneously perceived.

“Your visit further entrenches the fact that Okyeman and Asanteman are one people,” the Okyehene said.

He expressed appreciation to Asanteman for the warmth with which he was received when he visited the Asantehene in Kumasi a few weeks ago.

Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panyin stressed the need for the people of both kingdoms to be united in purpose to accelerate development and better the lives of their subjects.

He paid tribute to the Late Nana Ofori-Atta for his legacies, particularly his contribution to education and health.

He said the achievements of the Late Nana Ofori-Atta had been the bedrock of many a human resource and socio-economic development, and harped on his role in bridging the gap between the traditional authorities and government.

Otumfuo Osei-Tutu, on his part, traced the ancestry of the Asantes and Akyems to the Adansi Tribe and said the two people were one.

He told the gathering that his presence in Akyem was a brotherly duty, saying; “I came with love”.

The Otumfuo noted that the two traditional areas would spur the development of their people if they came together to champion a common course.

He noted that the chieftaincy institution was indispensable to national development and if that potential was harnessed fully by the state, it would advance its development.

Otumfuo Osei-Tutu challenged institutions such as Parliament to consider the views of traditional authorities in the drafting of the country’s laws.

He said Ghana could have had a better constitution if the traditional authorities were actively involved in its drafting.

Also in attendance were many senior government officials, representatives of chiefs from other traditional areas across the country, as well as people from all works of life.

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