The Teshie Stool Succession Dispute began in April, 1938 when at the request of the Teshie Kingmakers, the

accredited Teshie Dzasetse nominated one Badu Afutu from Ashitey We for enstoolment as Teshie Mantse or Chief. However, the head of Okpong We put forward another candidate by name Abraham Narh Tetteh because the said head claimed that it was rather the turn of Okpong We to provide the Mantse. After a lot of wrangling, the Dzasetse, with the support of the Shikitele and the Manbii (representatives of all identifiable groups in Teshie), installed Badu Afutu as Teshie mantse under the stool name of Nii Ashitey Kamoah II in 1939. In a counter move, the Mankralo and the Wulomo also installed Abraham Narh Tetteh as Teshie Mantse. The matter went before the Ga State Council for hearing from May 20, 1938. However, the dispute turned into a volatile crisis in 1941 when, against the express advice of anthropologist M. J. Field, the District Commissioner at the time decided to impose a ban on the celebration of the Teshie Homowo Festival for that year. Field had noted in an urgent hand-written letter of caution addressed to the Secretary to the Native Authorities dated May 6, 1941 that: Any small incident may set the young fishermen off into an explosion any moment. And I would particularly warn the Government not to heed the Ga Mantses advice (if he gives it) to forbid the festival. If they hold the festival there may be a slight trouble with some heads breaking: If they are not allowed to hold their festival there will certainly be a very big trouble. The District Commissioner went ahead to impose the ban but the Dzasetse and his supporters defied the ban and celebrated the festival without any breaking of heads. At the instance of the Mankralo, the police went to town to serve criminal summons on the

Dzasetse and his supporters (Jones, 1941). Angered by the fact that the Mankralo was personally directing service, the Dzasetses party went into action. This led to the infamous Kabu and Laaloku war of 1941 during which candidate Abraham Narh Tetteh was assassinated alongside three others. In the cause of the riots, the people of Okpong We were chased out of town and their traditional house razed to the ground. Thereafter, the Mankralo and his party went into exile for three consecutive years (Sir Allan Burns, 1941). On Thursday 29th March, 1945 the Ga State Council eventually gave a ruling on the Teshie Chieftaincy Dispute on the basis of two genealogical charts presented by each of the two disputing parties. The Council stated on page 149 of the Record of Proceedings that: the other chart Ex X presented by the Mankralo and his party is in all respects very plain, presents no doubt in reading through, and seems very reasonable and scrupulous...With keen observation we believe every letter and figure in it. It is significant to note that the adopted family tree specified that the first Chief of Teshie came from Ashitey We instead of Ashikwei We where that chief rightly hailed from. Although the recommendations were found to be inconsistent with the findings, the then Governor of the Gold Coast Colony gave approval for its implementation for fear that if this was not done, the dispute again will rotate in a slow perpetual motion with its accompanying elements of corruption, mis-statements and intrigue (S.A.C.S.(G), 1945). Four years down the line, this fear became a reality when Nii Ashitey Kamoa II, the recommended candidate was destooled for misappropriation and abuse of office by appointing Takpe Kwame as Teshie Dzasetse (Gold Coast Gazette No.3050). In 1955

Francis Aryeh Adjei of Okpong We was enstooled to succeed Kamoa II as recommended by the Ga State Council. He was also destooled four years later for changing the stool name of Nii Ashikwei Akomfra II which he adopted on his installation to that of Nii Adjei Okpong II (Osae, undated; Baddoo et al, 2003). The current Teshie Chieftaincy Crises, however, sparked off after the death of Nii Ashikwei Akomfra III who reigned as Teshie Mantse from 1962 to 1985. The dispute arose out of a claim to the stool by Ashiboi We which is a sub-house of Ashikwei We. The case of Ashiboi We as stated in Ben Armahs Statement of Case before the Judicial Committee of the Ga Traditional Council in Suit No. GTC/JC.5/94 was that: (a) Ashiboi had been mentioned as one of the ruling houses in a 1946 document entitled: Resolution in respect of the order of the Rotation of the Nomination, Installation and Enstoolment of the Chief of Teshie signed by Nii Ashitey Din and six others from Lenshie and copied to Nii Adjei Otswenma II (Mankralo), Nii Abiate Marmah (Ayiku, Osabu Wulomo) and Daniel Nii Okpe II (Shikitele). (b) There had been two successive Dzasetsemei [one de facto and the other de jure] as well as a Man-Nye (Queen mother) from Ashiboi We and this means that Ashiboi We is a ruling house in its own right. While a solution was being sought for the unexpected problem, the three Royal Houses splintered into six as follows: Ashikwei We and Ashiboi We; Ashitey We and Trebi-Ashitey We; Okpong We (Lenshie) and Okpong We (Camp 2). As a corollary the Teshie Divisional Council also splintered into two factions with the Shikitele and Acting Teshie Mantse at the head of one faction and the Akwashongtse as the head of the other faction. Gradually the dispute degenerated into chaos and anarchy leading to arson, much

bloodshed and wanton destruction of property including the burning down of the Teshie Chiefs Palace and that of the private residence of the then Acting Teshie Mantse in 1996. A number of judicial and quasi judicial bodies including the Ga Traditional Council, The High Court of Justice, The Teshie Chieftaincy Affairs Committee, The Greater Accra Regional Minister, The Joint Teshie Chieftaincy Arbitration Committee etc. have tried to solve the Teshie Chieftaincy crises without success till date.