The unfortunate death of Daasebre Kofi Agyeman III, Nifahene of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council and chief of Asiakwa in the Eastern Region, has brought in its wake confrontations at Asiakwa, resulting in the alleged beating of the 46-year-old widow of the highly-respected chief. The widow, Afua Yeboah, popularly called Auntie Efeh, was alleged to have been beaten severely by some family members from Anyinasin in the traditional area when she allegedly resisted their attempt to eject her from the chief’s palace where she had lived with her husband for the 23 years that they were married. Narrating her ordeal to Daily Guide at Asiakwa on Monday, the widow said the family members of the late chief from Asiakwa and Anyinasin, led by the head of family Opanin Baffour Kwame Asante, came to the palace on Sunday to greet and also have a discussion with her. According to her, the family members commended her for the support she had given the late chief even on his sick bed; but after that commendation, the family dropped a bombshell indicating that she must leave the palace because as tradition demanded, the bedroom of the late chief had to be locked and an inventory taken on all jewellery and valuables in the room. She said she pleaded with them to give her some time so she could inform her family members about the development. At that moment, she said, some of the women among the family members started casting insinuations at her, saying that her time was up because she had been the only person who enjoyed the wealth of their late chief. “I was shocked by the statement from the women among them so I approached them and knelt before them to help me plead with the elders because since they were women, they could also face similar problems. But the women got more infuriated and pounced on me and with the assistance of some family members from Anyinasin, they beat me up mercilessly, resulting in deep cuts on my forehead, jaw and shoulder,” she said. She indicated that she went to the Asiakwa police station to report the incident, after which she was given a medical form to go to the hospital. The widow said the family members had planned their action because she had always been told that she was a “stranger” who had come to enjoy where she had not sown. The Abusuapanin, Baffour Kwame Asante and the Krontihene of the town, Nana Kyere Gyau expressed shock at the woman’s story and said it was a concocted one because nobody from Anyinasin attacked her at the meeting. According to the Abusuapanin, they actually recognized the wife of the late chief as a widow and therefore decided to go and console her. He said when they went there, they also asked her to move her belongings to another room in the palace because as custom and tradition demanded, after the death of any important chief, his bedroom had to be put under lock and key, so that people do not tamper with any valuables which are being held in trust for the people of the traditional area. The Abusuapanin said that after the widow had been asked to relocate, she started screaming and went to confront one woman among the delegation. “We thought that she was even going to beg her to plead on her behalf for some time to allow her to relocate but all that we saw was that Auntie Efeh was firmly holding the woman by the neck and pushing her to the ground,” Opanin Kofi Duodu, one of the family elders who was a witness, told Daily Guide. He disclosed that as the widow was pushing the woman to the ground, she hit her head against a table behind them, resulting in the cut on her forehead. He said the two women were engaged in a fight and had to be separated, after which a report was made to the police. “If she is claiming that she had been beaten then she started the fight and the two women involved were separated,” he said. The Abusuapanin said it was never true that family members were sacking the widow from the palace but they only asked her to relocate from the chief’s residence at the palace to a new room which had been provided at the palace so that the chief’s place could be put under lock and key as custom demanded. The widow has three children with the late chief - two daughters and a son - with the eldest being 23 years old. Source: Daily Guide