The Chief and elders of Hwakpo have debunked statements made by the West Ada District Chief Executive, Sampson Tetteh Kpankpah on a radio station that suggests there is tension at Hwakpo during the Christmas festivities.
The chief and elders are not particularly happy with the DCE saying that some residents had wrecked the Hwakpo community graveyard. This they say the DCE could have verified before going public to painting a gloomy picture of the community that has just ended a Chieftaincy dispute and has agreed on a substantive chief through an arbitration by the Ada Traditional Council.
They say they do not understand why the DCE would want to stoke a dead fire and called on him to watch his comments going forward to ensure that it does not degenerate or incite any factionism.
Explaining what happened, Spokesperson for the Chief of Hwakpo, Rev. Nathan Ackwerh said the chief of Hwakpo, Nene Agbasi Dzikunu Ackwerh III, as part of activities earmarked for the yuletide, mobilised the youth of the community to tidy up the area’s bushy cemetery.
“And to uproot the stumps in the cemetery, the chief hired a machine to ease the task. No tomb was destroyed as purported by the DCE on the radio station.”
He noted the DCE, Sampson Tetteh Kpankpa, was at Hwakpo on Monday to order the machine to stop uprooting the stumps at the cemetery because a certain disappointed self-styled chief sent false news about the work to him.
“The DCE was here to see that no tomb was being destroyed, and so for him to go on a radio station to spew that falsehood that could spark tension is unpatriotic and wicked. I challenge the DCE to point out one tomb the youth destroyed when he came here to witness the work,” Spokesperson said.
He reminded Mr Kpankpa that by the ruling of the Ada Traditional Council, there is only one gazetted and recognised chief at Hwakpo—Nene Agbasi Dzikunu Ackwerh III—saying the earlier the DCE appreciated and respected the ruling, the better for him and his political position which has an expiry date.
The Spokesperson told journalists that the communal labour at the cemetery had been suspended, waiting for security advice from the Ada District Police Commander.
When contacted, Sampson Kpankpa on the telephone on the matter on Tuesday, he said: “I am in a crunch meeting. I can’t speak on this issue.”