The chieftaincy dispute over the Ngleshie Alata (James Town) paramount stool has taken a dramatic turn as one of the two sued claimants to the stool, has denounced his claim.
Edward Adjiri Solomon also known as Ahuma Kojo III, in spite of filing his defence in the matter before the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa, later denied having been installed as chief.
The Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, has subsequently, barred him from holding himself out as Paramount Chief of James Town.
In August 2020, three kingmakers and elders of the royal families of Ngleshie Alata, Nii Tetteh Okpe II, Nii Ashitey Tetteh and Nii Tetteh Attoh, filed a petition against Prince Asharku Bruce Quaye, also called Wetse Kojo II and Edward Adjiri Solomon, also called Nii Ahuma Kojo III, seeking to bar them from holding claim to Ngleshie Alata paramount stool, and to anull their purported installations.
According to the petitioners, while a new chief, Nii Kojo Ahuma III, known in private life as Henry Nunoo Koppoe had been properly nominated, elected and installed in 2018 by the kingmakers after the demise of the then paramount chief, Nii Kojo Ababio V, the two had been holding themselves out as chiefs.
But after filing their defence to the petition, and as the case started to travel its course, Adjiri Solomon, in a dramatic twist, filed a misjoinder to be exempted from the case, claiming that he has not been installed a paramount chief of James Town.
He argued in his motion for misjoiner that a purported attempt to install him as chief on February 2018, was stopped by the police in a raid during, which he and 15 others were arrested, and therefore, that inconclusive ceremony cannot be deemed as an installation.
“Since I have not been installed, no useful purpose would be served in instituting this action againt me,” he averred in his motion filed on March 5, 2021.
Consequently, the Judicial Committee, chaired by Nii Tetteh Otu II, in its ruling on March 26, 2021, granted the motion, and further estopped him from claiming that he had been installed as chief.
“For denying that he has been enstooled as Paramount Chief of Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area, second respondent is estopped from claiming that he has been installed as such,” the ruling stated.
In addition, the ruling barred him from ever challenging the capacity of the petitioners in any action relating to the Ngleshie Alata paramount stool.
By Edmund Mingle/www.adrdaily.com
