( Read you were only told. Pls read from here then..)
Torgbui Eya II
OPEN LETTER TO THE EYAA AGLOHU ROYAL HOUSE OF TADZEWU - KETU NORTH, VR.
_____________________________
THE ROYAL TENUKPO AZADAGLI STOOL, Tadzewu.
23rd January 2018.
THE ROYAL PALACE OF EYAA AGLOHU II, Tadzewu.
My Dear Togbi Eyaa Aglohu II,
It is with the greatest of concerns that I write this letter to you to bring to your notice the pain and embarrassment that you caused the occupant of the Azadagli Stool as well as the whole Royal House of Azadagli.
In a recent development concerning the celebration of the 2016 HOGBETSOTSO MINI DURBAR at Tadzewu, you had cause to write to the Chairman, Anlo Hogbetsotso Committee through your counsel Binewoatsor Law Consult, and copied to a wide circle of personalities and offices, a letter expressing your grievances as to the manner in which your office and status as the Dufia of Tadzewu was being undermined.
In the said letter which sought the attention of the Awadada of Anlo Togbi Agbeshie II, and headed; MATTERS CONCERNING THE CELEBRATION OF THIS YEARS HOGBETSOTSO MINI DURBAR AT TADZEWU AND THE ROLE OF THE DUFIA OF TADZEWU - TOGBI EYAA II, - our attention has been drawn to paragraph 2, and I quote; "Togbi Eyaa II, known in private life as Benjamin Korku Avornyo, was duly selected, enstooled and outdoored as the Dufia of Tadzewu in the Afife Traditional Area in 2014, almost two years ago. As the Dufia of Tadzewu, Togbi Eyaa II is the rightful authority on matters connected with or related to the wielding and exercising of traditional authority in the township of Tadzewu. All other chiefs (if any) including merely honorary persons such as so called development chiefs in Tadzewu are subordinate to the traditional authority of Togbi Eyaa II" unquote.
Due cognizance is hereby being given that it is within your remit to write such a letter to right a perceived wrong that was being done against your office and person as the Dufia of Tadzewu. We have no problem with anything that is culturally and traditionally appropriate and pleasing to common sense and accepted behavior.
Here is the catch. We take very serious exception to the 7th line, para 2 of the said letter which stated inter alia; All other chiefs (if any) including merely honorary persons....... etc, which questioned the legitimacy and the rightful existence of any other chief or stool in Tadzewu.
You by your letter are trying to tell the whole world that apart from the Eyaa Aglohu Stool, there is or are no other stools, gazetted and recognized by the State of Ghana in Tadzewu. That is very unfortunate.
By your letter you mischievously questioned the valor and might of a legend called Togbi Azadagli, whose bravery in battles for Anlo are well documented and recognized, and a stool which was duly created and established as one of the two old stools in the Afife Traditional Area town of Tadzewu.
It is very sad and unfortunate that you had to descend to such low levels to make your case and point. That level from where your abuse and insult and disrespect to your colleague and others came from can never guarantee peace within the confines of Tadzewu. The humble community of Tadzewu had known unparalleled peace for generations now. Why rumble the cot today with that uncalled for language?
Suffice to say you were not properly briefed by your kingmakers during your confinement and after, that there is a stool (an equal black stool or awadezi) in Tadzewu alongside that on which you sit today. So therefore we will not blame you. And again we will also not question your legitimacy, because we were living witnesses to your installation as the Dufia of Tadzewu, from the very day your elder brother who was the chosen of the gods eloped, and you had to be asked to fill the vacancy, because nature abhors a vacuum. We were there from the beginning to the end and we participated fully, financially and physically and spiritually. Moral support from us cannot be discounted. So we need not be told that you are not illegitimate.
With due respect to the high and mighty Royal Lord, the Dufia of Tadzewu, His one and only Overlord of everything, Togbi Eyaa Aglohu II, may we suggest that you go back and sit with your elders, the elders that you have sidelined, and ask them how the Mighty Azadagli came to be installed as chief of Tadzewu, how the Black Stool of Azadagli came into being, something that your old folks themselves had no control over but were witnesses to, how the Paramountcy and Lords of The House of Adrakpanya and The Majestic Awoamezi of Anlo and its King saw it fit and appropriate to confer a deserved chieftaincy title on someone you chose in your ignorance to demean and a Stool you chose to deride.
And if you find it difficult to go before your recognized and legal and legitimate Zikpitor Yao Avornyo, and the Elders you believed have nothing to teach you, then may we humbly suggest again that you rather approach the President of ATACA, who also happens to be the Dusifiaga of Afife, Togbi Adzaklo II and Togbi Agbeve Ayirim II, the Dufia of Agbevekorpe and the Honorable General Secretary of ATACA, who are deep wells of wisdom in a lot of fields, and also in chieftaincy and the traditional norms of the Afifes for the needed tuition, so as to forestall any future faux pas from you during your tenure of office.
And to your further information, the humble servants of the community that we respect so much, and which you derogatorily termed "so-called Development Chiefs" were installed by both the Houses of Azadagli and Ayivor (now Eyaa Aglohu). Your highly respected immediate predecessor, Togbi Ayivor III, Dufia and Togbui Tenukpo Azadagli III, Fia of Tadzewu were witnesses to the services rendered by the likes of Hon Alex Segbefia, former Minister of Health of Ghana, and were not hesitant in installing him the Dunenyo Fia of Tadzewu.
It was a widely authorized and celebrated public event in which the whole township of Tadzewu and its surrounding villages fully participated. The same goes for the present Ngoryifia of Afife Traditional Area. This personality you so derided and ridiculed in your letter singlehandedly saw to the burial of your predecessor, and was also the greatest instrument in the whole works that culminated in the successful selection, installation and outdooring of the Dufia known as Eyaa Aglohu II.
The contributions of this writer, and those of Togbui Tenukpo Azadagli III and Togbui Agbeve Ayirim II cannot be discounted. How ungrateful can one be.
We will not ask anyone to tell us if there is any other stool in Tadzewu alongside the Azadagli Stool, because the present occupant of the stool was outdoored on the same day as your immediate past predecessor Togbi Ayivor III, also known in private life as Mr Victor Nenyewode Ezi. We won't make that mistake.
Again we aren't going to question the legitimacy and the existence of the Ayivor/Eyaa Stool, because much records exist, if you care to know, in the secretariat of the paramountcy of Adrakpanya at Afife and Anlo Traditional Council offices of the mighty deeds of both houses of Azadagli and Eyaa.
To enlighten you and your house further, and to other like minds within your circle who believe there is no other stool apart from the one in your family, the very immediate past occupant of the Azadagli Stool, elected on 24th of April, 1953, known in private life as Etu Honu, even though was a Regent, applied for inclusion into the Chiefs List of the WHETA/AFIFE/KLIKOR LOCAL COUNCIL on 26th of September, 1956. His stool elders were men of honor and repute and they made sure he never said anything to breach the peace of the community at that time. And again he did not falter or say anything demeaning to his colleague Ayivor Stool occupant.
Some records you cannot wish away. The role played by the present occupant of the Azadagli Stool, who was with your kingmakers day and night, in your bed and drawing rooms, and in your own stool room cannot be discounted. When the going became tough, it was the tough Azadagli Stool which stood by your family and saw to a successful coronation. Then, Togbi Tenukpo Azadagli III was a chief of Tadzewu to your misguided collaborators. Is this the thanks that we get from you?
We the present elders of the stool are sparing no effort in teaching our new occupant the norms of decent behavior as far as utterances are concerned.
During the Regency of Amega Etu Honu, some notable members of the Tadzewu community served at his court as advisers and elders. A short list of these elders of blessed memory, whose wise counsel and good deeds still reverberate within the confines of power in Anlo, will serve as a constant reminder to you and your collaborators how glorious and peaceful the community was during those times of old. These were men who departed Tadzewu to eternity with and in full glory. The list has some enviable names like; 1. Wutogui Azadagli, 2.Dahumegbor Sedzro, 3.Fred Ayaotor Attipoe, 4. Chief Emmanuel Nutornutsi Kluvia, 5. Atsu Adukpo, 6. Dzaka Kargbe, 7. Zioklui Dogbatse, 8. Atsikor Tovor, 9. Koto Adzaklo and last but not the least, 10. Akpabli Honu.
It is regretable to hear that all efforts and attempts being made to make you see reason by some of your concerned and enlightened elders in the persons of Zikpitor Yao Avornyo, C. K. Egbenya and C. K. Zormelo fell on deaf ears. Other attempts by the Clergy in the community you equally rebuffed.
Lest we forget, for peace and harmony to prevail within Tadzewu and for a smooth celebration of the Hogbetsotso event, the House of Azadagli was prevailed upon to exercise patience, and that immediately after the program, the elders of the Afife paramountcy will see to a settlement and resolution of this issue of "I am the only chief." But regretably again, you spurned their initial efforts and so nothing has been heard from the House of Adrakpanya till date.
We therefore deemed it fit to demand an unqualified apology from you, and also demand that you employ and use the same channel you earlier used, to correct that wrong impression you created and shared, and also you must clearly indicate that there is another legitimate stool in Tadzewu, within the Afife Traditional Area called The Azadagli Stool, alongside that of the Eyaa Aglohu Stool, and of equal ranking, but your stool holds the place of Dufia, for the mere fact that in a classroom there must be a leader.
I remain with regards,
Yours in the service of Tadzewu.
Godwin Doe Adamah. Secretary to the Royal Tenukpo Azadagli Stool of Tadzewu.
No comments:
Post a Comment