The Paramount Chief of the Sunyani Traditional Area, Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II, has been duly gazetted by the National House of Chiefs as the Paramount Chief of the Sunyani Traditional Area.
The gazetting, held last Thursday, (July 30,) formally recognises Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II as the occupant of the Sunyani Paramount Stool and President of the Sunyani Traditional Council.
It also affirms his legal status as the duly recognised Paramount Chief of the traditional area in accordance with Ghana’s chieftaincy laws.
Dispiute
This development marks a significant point in the protracted succession dispute over the Sunyani Paramount Stool, which followed the death of the late Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri II in July 2022 and his burial in April 2024.
The dispute took a dramatic turn on January 6, 2025, when two factions installed separate claimants to the vacant stool.
One faction installed Yaw Agyare, a 46-year-old corrections officer based in Maryland, USA, with the stool name Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II, while another faction installed Adom Manu, who was given the stool name Nana Yaw Twene Amanfo II.
At the time, another gate was also reported to be preparing to install its preferred candidate.
The situation heightened tension in Sunyani, prompting the Bono Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to intervene after proposed press conferences by the opposing factions were suspended.
Court action
The succession dispute subsequently entered the courts, with the Queenmother of the Sunyani Traditional Area, Nana Akosua Dua Asor Sika Brayie II, filing an interlocutory injunction to restrain Yaw Agyare from carrying, styling and conducting himself as Sunyanimanhene.
Filed by her lawyer, Kwame Twumasi-Awuah, on January 10, 2025, the application also sought to restrain the Akwamuhene, Nana Kwaku Sarbeng Ababio II, from introducing or parading Yaw Agyare as Paramount Chief of the Sunyani Traditional Area.
The Queenmother argued that the Akwamuhene lacked the customary authority to nominate a candidate to occupy the vacant paramount stool.
She further contended that Yaw Agyare had not been validly nominated by her, the Queenmother, and that his purported installation under a tree in front of the old palace was contrary to custom and the law.
The application cited Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1972 (2010) which sets out the procedure for the nomination and installation of a Paramount Chief of the Sunyani Traditional Area.
Further escalation
The dispute deepened when the Sunyani Traditional Council suspended Nana Akosua Dua Asor Sika Brayie II indefinitely over her alleged involvement in the installation of another claimant, Dr Osei Tutu, as Omanhene.
Dr Tutu, an American-based Doctor of Physical Therapy, was reportedly installed at the Queenmother’s private residence at Baakoniaba and given the stool name Ofentemfrem Omenasono Dr Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri III.
The council described that installation as illegal and maintained that Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II was the only recognised chief of the Sunyani Traditional Area.
The acting President of the Council, Nana Kwaku Sarbeng Ababio II, also said the Bono Regional House of Chiefs had dismissed the interlocutory injunction filed by the Queenmother on April 8, 2025.
With the latest gazetting by the National House of Chiefs, Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II now stands officially recognised as Paramount Chief and President of the Sunyani Traditional Council.
