The Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional area together with the traditional Council has demolished a statue erected at Prince Boateng Roundabout in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital.
The statue described by the traditional council as “offensive and a dirty trick ” to suggest that the late “Prince Emmanuel Yao Boateng” was a royal was pulled down on Friday, March 19, 2021, sparking confusion.
According to the Traditional council, the statue was erected by children of the late Oheneba Yao Boateng without the permission of Daasebre Prof. Emeritus Oti Boateng -Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Council, describing the action by the family as gross disrespect to the Yiadom Hwedie stool.
The Council said the decision to forcibly pull down the statue was necessitated by failure by the children of the late Oheneba Yao Boateng to remove the statue having promised and apologized when summoned to the palace on February 5, 2021, by the traditional council.
“The Children have also on two different occasions, on 5th March and 19th March 2021 respectively, refused to honor specific requests by the traditional council to attend its meetings on the issue. It has emerged that Oheneba Yao Boateng’s children have produced and widely distributed a video of the offensive statue in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Ghana. The Traditional Council has a copy of the video which is repugnant to the history and sensibilities of the Chiefs and people of New Juaben” the traditional council said in a statement released.
The traditional council contended that the late Oheneba Yao Boateng is not a royal from the Yiadom Hwedie family but derived his status from the fact that his father was Nana Kwaku Boateng I, who reigned as Omanhene of New Juaben from 1913 to1930.
“One would have expected the children of Oheneba Yao Boateng, who erected the statue, to exercise due diligence and circumspection by first considering their grandfather, Nana Kwaku Boateng I, for the honor rather than his son and their father. The inscription Prince Emmanuel Yao Boateng instead of Oheneba Yao Boateng boldly on the said statue is also considered very offensive to the Akan customary practice and usage. From the matrifocal analysis of the Akan kingship structure, Oheneba Yao Boateng, whose mother is not Akan, is also not Akan. The said inscription is therefore a dirty trick that Oheneba Yao Boateng belongs to the Yiadom Hwedie Royal lineage without the pertinent blood of consanguinity “
The New Juaben Traditional council further annexed that, the late Oheneba Yao Boateng did not achieve anything tangible in New Juaben to merit a statue in his honor in such a strategic area.
According to the traditional Council, the demolished statue will be replaced by the statue of Nana Kwaku Boateng I, to commemorate his unique contribution as the Omanhene who built the New Juaben Palace.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
