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The Dzekley Stool Father for Battor Paramountcy, Zikpitor Korsi Hottor has called on Togbuiga Batamia Dzekley VII, to let peace prevail at Battor.
According to him, “The continuous exhibition of disrespect and disregard to custom and tradition by our Paramount Chief could force the kingmakers to come to the end of the road with him. We don’t want to get there.”
Since 2013, Togbuiga Batamia Dzekley VII, the Battor Paramount Chief, the Zikpitor Hottor alleged, has locked up their ancestral stool room, thus, depriving the chiefs and people of Battor access to perform their annual rituals as part of the demands of their custom and tradition.
The ancestral stool room has been locked for seven years now, but to ensure that peace was built between the Paramount Chief and his kingmakers and community for the stool room to be accessed for rituals to be carried out, the North Tongu District Security Committee (DISEC), under the authority of the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, convened a meeting at the North Tongu District Assembly last Wednesday.
There was a heavy presence of armed police personnel at the venue for the peace meeting, and so high was the hope of the youth that their Paramount Chief would attend the meeting to smoke the peace-pipe with the kingmakers.
However, after hours of waiting with no sight of their Paramount Chief, the youth grew angry and demonstrated on the principal roads of Battor to register their disappointment at Togbuiga Dzekley VII.
The kingmakers and sub-chiefs, too, were unhappy that their Paramount Chief failed to honour the invitation of the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to let peace prevail in Battor.
Addressing the media after their disappointment, Zikpitor Korsi Hottor said: “I am so sad that my Paramount Chief is being the best to divide us after we all threw our support for him to become our head in 2003.
“I worked hard for him to be where he is today because our area had a protracted chieftaincy issue. All attempts, including petitioning the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, where he is the Vice President, and the National House of Chiefs, to impress on our son to avail himself to let peace prevail in the Battor Traditional Area have not yielded any result.
“Togbuiga Dzekley VII has surrounded himself with people we consider to be aliens to the stool so he considers us, his own people, as enemies to the stool. It is very sad and disappointing that this matter has to travel this far.”
In the midst of the alleged division the Paramount Chief has created in Battor state, Zikpitor Hottor accused the former of the area’s lack of developments.
“He has not been cooperating with the government, assembly and people who matter to bring developments to us. It is sad to know that we don’t have a common public toilet facility in the community because he is not ready to release lands to the assembly to carry out projects for us. Togbuiga Dzekley VII should not be the best person to divide the people of Battor state after all that this state had had to go through.
“He should attend to the peaceful calls of the kingmakers because people are getting agitated in Battor.
“We want to reconcile with him and so all the peaceful steps we have been taking, but we will have to go the wrong way if he doesn’t get to recognise us and continues to violate our customary practices, laws and usage, which we have tolerated for all these years.
“De-stooling him is not actually our interest. We want to make sure that the unhealthy environment that is not inuring to the area’s benefit is ceased for peace and reconciliation. If unfortunately, we will have to go the wrong way, that’ll be a sad development because we are not ready to sacrifice our tradition, custom and usage for his benefit. If he refuses, ultimately, we will go the full hob of the law to get the right thing done.”
When the media called Togbuiga Dzekley VII on the telephone on the matter, he said: “My lawyers have advised me to remain silent on this matter. So, I’m sorry.”
Source: Thepressradio.com||Ghana||Queen Diamond
