-Queen Mother Demands Removal of State-Installed Chief Amid Fresh Allegations
By Philip Antoh
The chieftaincy crisis in Akuapem has resurfaced with renewed intensity, as Queen Mother Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II issued a two-week ultimatum to Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III popularly known as Kwadwo Kesse Antwi to vacate the Akuapemhene seat.
Her demand, delivered at a press briefing in Accra on 8 October 2025, reignites longstanding tensions over the legitimacy of his installation and the alleged role of state actors in orchestrating a palace coup.
The Queen Mother’s ultimatum follows years of unresolved conflict dating back to 26 January 2018, when armed national security operatives reportedly acting under the directive of then President Nana Akufo-Addo stormed the Akuapem Palace at midnight.
The operation, led by Bryan Acheampong, then Minister of State at the Ministry of National Security, and presidential advisor Victor Newman, was ostensibly triggered by a false alarm about concealed weapons at the palace.
However, insiders and traditional leaders maintain the raid was a calculated move to forcibly install Kwadwo Kesse, a non-royal, as paramount chief. Nana Kwaw Kukurantumi V, Frankaahene of Akuapem and a lawyer, described the operation as a “political hijack of tradition,” alleging that chiefs and caretakers were assaulted, sacred artifacts stolen, and the palace desecrated.
The Queen Mother recounted that her house and vehicle were torched during the raid, and one of her grandchildren was shot resulting in a permanent amputation. “We have tried very much to hold our peace,” she said, “but the situation became town against state, with the New Patriotic Party solidly behind Kwadwo Kesse.”
She further alleged that former President Akufo-Addo personally called her, offering cars and a house in exchange for her endorsement of Kwadwo Kesse an offer she claims to have rejected.
According to Akuapem tradition, the paramountcy rotates among three royal houses: Sekyiabea, Amaogyaa, and Nketiaa. Following the death of Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III in 2015, the turn fell to the Sekyiabea family. The Queen Mother insists that Kwadwo Kesse, who entered the family through marriage, lacks the bloodline required to ascend the stool.
Court rulings from the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs (March 2021) and the Supreme Court (February 2024) reportedly affirmed that Kwadwo Kesse is not a legitimate royal. Yet, his installation proceeded under what traditional leaders describe as “brutal force.”
In protest, the Queen Mother has cancelled the 2025 Odwura Festival, warning invited chiefs and dignitaries to “advise themselves accordingly.” She maintains that Akuapem remains without a legitimate paramount chief and continues to mourn the late Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III.
Traditional leaders are now appealing to the current government to restore peace and reverse what they describe as a “wrongful installation.” The Queen Mother’s ultimatum marks a decisive moment in the protracted dispute one that could reshape the balance between customary authority and state power in Ghana’s chieftaincy landscape.
With the scars of the 2018 raid still fresh and the stool’s legitimacy in question, Akuapem’s royal crisis remains a potent symbol of the tensions between tradition, politics, and power.