Chief Assaults Old Lady

Nana Kumi Akyeaw II, Abesimhene The Chief of Abesim, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Kumi Akyeaw II, is in police grips for taking the law into his own hands when he allegedly assaulted a 71-year-old woman in the presence of two police officers. Nana Kumi Akyeaw, who is the Kyidomhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area, was on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of GH¢1000 by a Sunyani circuit court to reappear on August 5, 2009. According to the prosecutor, the chief allegedly beat up 71-year-old Madam Akua Konadu, a resident of Abesim, in October last year after the latter led a team of police officers to the house of the former to cause his arrest following the chief’s failure to produce three suspects he had bailed. The suspects were then standing trial in a criminal case. The prosecutor said when Nana Kumi Akyeaw emerged from his room and saw the face of the old lady, he got angry and questioned her mission in his house. However, before the poor woman could say a word, the chief violently held her and instantly gave her two slaps which landed her on the floor. The fact of the case is that the daughter of the chief, Namenama, is battling with Madam Konadu over the ownership of a cocoa farm believed to have been cultivated almost 20 years ago. According to reports, Nana Kumi Akyeaw allegedly hired three people whose names were given as Simon, Alhaji (son of Namenama) and Kwasi Bana to destroy the disputed cocoa farm. Following the incident, the old lady reported the case to the police who arrested and arraigned the three young men. According to the police, the chief later bailed the suspects but they failed to show up in subsequent court proceedings. The action of the suspects unduly delayed the trial of the case since they absconded after the bail. The court, not pleased with the action of the chief, ordered the police to produce him in place of the suspects. And it was when the old lady led the police to the Chief’s house that she was attacked. From Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani