An aggrieved resident of Boankra in the Ashanti Region, Nana Yaa Frimpomaah, has allegedly invoked the dreaded river deity, Antoa Nyamaa, on the Omanhene of Ejisu Traditional Council, Nana Afrani Okesse IV, for illegally taking her land. Madam Frimpomaah allegedly invoked the deity when operatives of the Odikro of Hwereso, Nana Oppong Kesse IV, tried to prevent workers of one Madam Faustina Baffoe-Bonnie, one of the people who bought lands from her, from developing the plot. Although the alleged curse was intended for both her and Nana Kesse, that is if she lied about the ownership and if the Odikro, was also over-stepping his bounds, the Omahene was said to have taken the issue personal. She has reportedly refused to pay for the two rams, the final part of a three-ram fine, which was imposed on her by the Ejisu traditional council for invoking the dreaded deity on the chief and petitioned the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to call the Omanhene to order. She accused the chief of being power drunk and terrorising the people within his traditional council and having no regard for the elders. In an interview with The Spectator in Kumasi, Madam Frimpomaah alleged that somewhere in 2001, the said Odikro sold a portion of her land to one Madam Barbara Ohemeng, then lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She said when her attention was drawn to it, she reported the issue to the Odikro of Boankra, Nana Kwabena Dwomoh, who was the sole signatory to the lands under his jurisdiction. She said the Odikro later informed the then Ejisu Omanhene, Oguakro Aboagye Agyei IV, who summoned Nana Kesse to his palace. She said after adjudication of the case, the traditional council ruled in her favour that the Odikro of Hwereso did not have any parcel of land there and therefore did not have the right to sell land in Boankra. Documentary evidence made available to The Spectator confirmed the ruling of the traditional council, which commissioned a 12-man committee of Nananom to investigate the matter. She said in early November this year, while supervising construction works on Madam Baffoe-Bonnie's building, the Hwereso Odikro, in a company of some macho men allegedly came to the site claiming that "they were sent by the Omanhene to stop the construction works and seize the tools of the workers." "After struggling with them for sometime, we allowed them to take the items away". Madam Frimpomaah explained that on the following day, she received a summons from the traditional council to appear before it. However, she also alleged that on the appointed day, she could not go as she had her menses and by the Akan tradition, women in their period are not allowed to go to the chiefs palace. She said her absence at the council further infuriated the chief who sent some emissaries with two police escort to arrest her following day and followed it up with a court writ as well. She said it was at the traditional council that she was found to guilty for invoking the deity and asked to pay a fine of GH¢60 and six rams. After some few Qleadings from the apusuapanin, the fine was reduced to GH¢20 and three rams. "We were made to pay the cash and one ram that day and the rest to be paid within two weeks," she said. The registrar of the Ejisu traditional council, Ben Obiri-Asamoah, confirmed the case to The Spectator in a telephone interview. He, however, declined to make further comments on the issue. He explained that though he was directed by the Omanhene to write to invite Madam Yaa Frimpomaah for a discussion at the palace, "I was not present when the case came up or hearing." According to him, he was indisposed at the time and therefore could not attend the hearing. Meanwhile, the Ejusi Circuit Court has imposed a fine of GH¢400 on her for the same offense. The court held that though it was the Akan custom that women in their menses should not go to the chief's palace, she should have informed 'the council of her state. A receipt with registration number JS 7031756, issued on November 18, 2009 indicated mat the fine has already been paid to the court. Source: The Spectator