This year’s Odwira Festival of the people of Akuapem hangs in the balance as matters surrounding who succeeds the late Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III as the Okuapehene of the Akuapem Paramount stool, also known as the Ofori Kuma Stool, remain in contention.
This is because the Judicial Committees of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and the National House of Chiefs declared the nomination and enstoolment of Odehye Kwasi Akuffo by the Paramount Queenmother, Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II, a nullity for not following due custom.
Nana Obuo II was installed to conduct the nomination and enstoolment following the death of Nana Dokua I, who had initiated the process.
The committees found that the appropriate procedure established by the judgment was for the Abrewatia to submit the name of her preferred candidate to the Queenmother, but she acted contrary to the procedure.
It was on this basis that the High Court, presided over by Justice Doris Dabanka-Bekoe, found the Abrewatia and Odehye Kwadwo Kesse Antwi in contempt.
The two were fined GH¢10,000 each, and in default, they will spend 14 days in prison. That judgment has also been appealed by the two.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Krontihene of the Akuapem Traditional Area, Osahene Boafo Ansah III, he dispelled the notion that this year’s Odwira Festival would not be celebrated due to an injunction slapped on it.
He said nobody had the power to restrain the Okuapehene from celebrating the Odwira Festival. He therefore called on all to disregard any misinformation and disinformation about the festival.
“All is set for the Okuapehene, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, to celebrate this year’s Odwira Festival, which our forefathers had done for decades,” Osahene Ansah stressed.
The 2026 Akuapem Odwira Festival is expected to be a historic 200th-anniversary celebration, scheduled for September 21-27.
Launched on March 10 at the Okuapehene’s Palace, this year’s event in Akropong-Akuapem is expected to feature grand cultural displays, durbars, and, notably, a commemoration of two centuries of heritage.
Judicial Committees
The decisions of the Judicial Committees of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and the National House of Chiefs made the declarations after they found that the nomination of Odehye Kwasi Akuffo was not done with due recourse to Lily Agyeman, the Abrewatia of the Royal Sakyibea House, the gate next in line to present a name for the nomination.
Following the order, the Abrewatia of Royal Sakyibea House, Agyeman, presented Odehye Kwadwo Kesse Antwi to the Kontihene, Nana Ofori Kwesi Agyeman IV, to approve the nomination in the absence of the Queenmother, and it was subsequently approved.
High Court contempt
It was based on this conduct that the Queenmother, Nana Obuo II, and the Asonahene of Akuapem, Nana Kwasi Amenako II, applied to the High Court to cite both Lily Agyeman and Odehye Kwadwo Kesse Antwi for contempt.
They contended that the procedure contained in the judgement of the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, which was later affirmed by the National House of Chiefs, was not followed by Lily Agyeman, the Abrewatia.
Statement
In a statement dated March 30 this year, lawyers of the Queenmother said in the absence of an occupant of the Ofori Kuma Stool (Okuapehene), all customary and or traditional rites, rituals and even the announcement of the dates for the celebration of the Odwira festival were only done under the instructions of the Okuapehemea (Queenmother), who instructs the Gyaasefo, who are a team of sub-chiefs customarily assigned to perform all customs in preparation for the celebration of the Odwira Festival.
The statement said that it had not yet been done for 2026.
“The public is encouraged to disregard any publications or announcements by any persons except by the Queen mother over the celebration of the festival,” the statement said.
“In this circumstance, the general public is further notified that the Queen mother has not nominated any person for enstoolment as Okuapehene, and as such the Ofori Kuma stool for now was vacant and any person parading himself as the Okuapehene, was an imposter and any person recognising and/or dealing with any such person does so at his or her own risk,” the statement said.
The statement cautioned that any person purporting to plan the Odwira festival without the authorisation of the Queenmother in the absence of the Okuapehene was contrary to the customs and traditions of the royals and people of Akropong and would be resisted as contrary to custom.
The Akuapem Odwira Festival, which was originally instituted in 1826 by Nana Addo Dankwa I, was to celebrate the victory of the Akuapem people over the Ashanti army in the Battle of Katamansu in 1826.
The word, Odwira, therefore, means cleansing or purification, and the festival involves rituals to cleanse the community, its people, and their ancestral stools, symbolising a fresh start for a new year.
The festival is also a time to honour and pay respect to ancestors through rituals such as libation and “feeding the ancestors,” particularly during the harvest season.
Odwira further brings communities together, encouraging unity and reflection among families and clans.
It is also a time for people to return to their hometowns to celebrate with family.
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