A young man from the Bono region in Ghana, West Africa, Gideon Obiri Yeboah is living in fear for his life and that of his first daughter after being identified as the chosen successor to a vacant chieftaincy role after the demise of the former Chief, Nana Adu Yamoah II. The title, which is said to come with immense fetish spirituality and the sacrifice of the new Chief’s daughter. The young businessman has for months been evading attempts by the fetish priests and community leaders to capture and force him to accept the chieftaincy role.
According to the troubled youngman, he believes his family is bent on going ahead with this archaic ritual to safeguard the stool; inherited by his fathers and also comes with mineral and natural resources to the detriment of his safety and welfare, which is.
“My family’s obsession with the goodies that accompany the occupant of the stool is what is pushing them to put me and my daughter on the line without thinking of my peace and beliefs”, Gideon recounted.
Despite his efforts to hide, the young man says he now leaves in total fear for his life and that of is family because of the constant tracking and threat from the elders of his family; not even after having a crunch meeting with the entire family on the reason why he cannot succumb to these fetishism. Few weeks ago, his daughter narrowly escaped what could have been a kidnap and subsequent murder of the poor innocent girl’ all in the name of a Chieftaincy role.
“I just want to live a normal life and provide for my family without fear of being harmed alongside my family” He has appealed to local authorities to step in but so far, the result hasn’t positive.
The ritual, according to deep throat sources close to the community reveals that, it is an old tradition dating back to centuries that have been preserved by their forefathers so needs to be maintained and honored. Efforts are being made to use this current unfortunate story as a case study to fight for its abolishment.
