Christian Tetteh Yohuno is Ghana’s Inspector General of Police
Dear IGP Yohuno,
I wrote you an open letter on May 23, 2025. This letter was meant to be an early warning regarding a looming violence over a protracted chieftaincy dispute in the town of Chiraa, in the Sunyani West District of the Bono Region. Specifically in the letter, I drew your attention to the fact that what was happening in the town was due to the collusion between the regional police Commander and the Queen Mother of the town, Nana Yeboa Penee, who had been boasting of having the police commander in her pocket, so to speak.
Sir, I am not in any position to know whether the content of the letter was brought to your attention either by your research outfit. However, from the deteriorating security situation in the town, my hunch is that neither you nor your research outfit read the letter. Sir, the regional police commander continues his biased handling of the situation in the town at the behest of the Queen Mother, a situation which, fortunately or unfortunately, lends credence to the Queen Mother’s boasts that the commander is at her beck and call.
I intimated in the letter that the Queen Mother’s illegal nomination and enstoolment of her preferred person as the krontihemaa, as against the customary role reserved for the krontire family, was the trigger of an ugly confrontation on the night of the 27th April, 2025. The confrontation was between the residents of the Krontire section of the town and the police officers and machomen, the regional commander had deployed to come and forcefully enter the Krontire palace to sit the illegal Krontihemaa on the Black Stool as a means of legitimizing her!
Following this standoff on the night of 27th April, all the leaders of the two rival Krontire factions were invited to a meeting the following day, the 28th April, at 3 p.m. with the Regional Coordinating Council in Sunyani, chaired by the Regional Minister, Hon. Akwaboah. Unfortunately, this meeting was characterized by a shouting match between the rivals, so the regional minister ended the meeting and admonished the two factions to go to court if anyone was aggrieved by anything because, according to him, “….in a democracy, that is how disputes are resolved and that chieftaincy disputes are not the remit of the police.”
It is significant to note that before this near conflagration over the forceful entry into the Krontire palace, there were court processes in the high court in Sunyani and the Dormaa Traditional Council, which were initiated by the two factions, respectively. Thus, we acquiesced to this counsel by the Hon. Regional Minister because his advice to go to court was consistent with the existing court processes.
Sir, we thought the matter had been settled while we awaited the court processes; however, because the Queen Mother was desperate to legitimize her illegality of nominating and enstooling the young woman after charging her the traditional enstoolment fee, she would continue to use the police commander to do her bidding. On two separate occasions, the Queen Mother tried to “attack” the Krontire palace again with so-called machomen with police officers in tow, even though, as indicated earlier, we were told by the Regional Minister that chieftaincy dispute is not the remit of the police.
Whenever the rival faction called the police in the face of the threats by the Queen Mother, they would tell them that chieftaincy is not their job (we have a statement by the crime officer on tape as evidence of this obvious bias).
However, the regional commander is always quick to rush to send the police to assist her at the first opportunity in trying to attack the Krontire palace, which they are so desperate to enter to perform some rituals.
The purpose of today’s letter is to inform you that, through a pack of lies this Queen Mother peddled to the Regional Commander, on Wednesday, the 23rd July, 2025, he dispatched six CID personnel to effect the arrest of some youth of the Krontire family in the town during which a young woman from the rival faction was seriously injured (see attached video of the woman’s injury).
The Queen Mother’s beef this time was that a young lady from the rival camp had sent her a WhatsApp message to insult her! The regional commander could send six police officers to go and support the Queen Mother to apprehend this young lady, when chieftaincy disputes are not the remit of the police? The evidence of this potentially violent situation is that in the melee that ensued during the forceful arrest of the youth, one CID officer left his personnel ID (I herewith attach a video clip of the confrontation between the Krontire youth and the police officers and the ID of one of the officers, respectively).
Following this near-violent confrontation between the CID officers and the residents of the Krontire suburb, the youth marched to the Chief’s palace in an attempt to capture him, but he fled and also called on the regional commander to deploy additional officers to come and keep the peace. Both the Chief and the Queen Mother have gone rogue, antagonizing about five different sub-stools in the town by usurping the powers and functions of families to nominate and enstool their candidates.
This has created a very volatile security situation in the town and has situated the town on a time bomb that can explode violently at any time. The regional police commander has a vested interest in the ongoing conflict, and this has compromised the neutrality of the police. I am, by this second letter, therefore, calling on your good offices to heed the call of the townsfolk and call the regional police commander to order before he engenders a bloodbath in the town of Chiraa.
Thank you
Yours truly,
Acheampong Yaw Amoateng, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Catholic University of Ghana, Fiapre, Bono Region.
