Worawora (O/R), June 13, GNA – The Oyoko Adako family has appealed to the Oti Regional House of Chiefs to halt actions on the Worawora chieftaincy issue, pending Otumfuo Osei Tutu II’s intervention.
The family contends that the House’s decision to establish a Committee of Enquiry under Section 9(2) of the Chieftaincy Act, 2008 (Act 759), and any subsequent decisions, would plunge Worawora into lasting confusion and chaos.
They stressed that Otumfuo, as the ultimate custodian of the Paramount Stool and the Worawora State, has not approved the enstoolment of any chief, hence no one should be gazette by the House of Chiefs as the Paramount Chief.
Addressing a press conference at Worawora themed “The true state of affairs of Worawora Paramountcy,” Nana Yaw Boasei Kogo III, Ankobeahene of the Worawora Traditional Area, said the event aimed to clarify the truth and defend the traditions, customs, and history of Woraworaman as an Asante state.
He explained that Worawora is an Asante state, originally settled by Oyoko Adako descendants from Kuntanase in 1774. According to him, the people have since followed the Asante matrilineal kinship system. “Of the ten paramount chiefs who have occupied the Kuntanase-transferred Stool, only the most recent—who passed away in 2015—was of patrilineal lineage,” he said.
Nana Kogo added that the enstoolment of this patrilineal chief led to a 17-year chieftaincy conflict, which ended only with the death of the Oyoko Adako family’s rival candidate in 1994.
To avoid a recurrence, he noted, Woraworaman renewed its allegiance to Otumfuo in February 2001. This was followed by a historic visit by the Asantehene on September 29, 2001, for the Akwantutenten Festival.
In 2019, the Oyoko Adako family presented a candidate to the Queen Mother, Nana Abena Safoa Awerewa II, through Kokofuhene, in accordance with custom. After 18 months, she returned to the traditional drinks, rejecting the candidate because he was not from a patrilineal royal line.
“This act sparked the current dispute,” Nana Kogo said, “because the Oyoko Adako family maintained that succession in Worawora is matrilineal, consistent with Asanteman tradition.”
He said the Kokofu Traditional Council disagreed with Nana Awerewa’s stance and, through Kokofuhene, directed her to accept any qualified maternal royal who met traditional requirements. The matter was then reported to the Asantehene.
A 2021 courtesy visit by Worawora elders—including Nana Awerewa—to Otumfuo confirmed that the Paramount Stool must be inherited matrilineally. However, Nana Awerewa later rejected Asante traditions, claimed there was no Oyoko family in Worawora, and wrote to the Oti Regional House of Chiefs.
Nana Kogo said this rejection led the Queen Mother to enstool a patrilineal chief, despite the Oyoko Adako family having already installed their own candidate, awaiting Otumfuo’s validation.
Otumfuo has since constituted a committee of eminent Oyoko Adako chiefs, chaired by Nsutahene, to investigate the matter. The committee sent a delegation advising all parties to remain calm pending Otumfuo’s summons after the funeral of Mamponghene.
Despite this, Nana Awerewa reportedly defied the directive and appeared before the Oti House of Chiefs in Dambai on June 3, 2025, advocating for the gazetting of her candidate—a move that was shared widely on social media.
In response, the Oyoko Adako family petitioned the President of the Oti House of Chiefs, challenging the legitimacy of the patrilineal enstoolment.
Nana Kogo accused Nana Awerewa of distorting the traditions and history of Worawora, replacing truth with falsehood for personal interest.