The youth of Krobo have expressed displeasure at recent events in the town where the Piengua Divisional Chief allegedly stabbed his sub-chief in public. The youth group, named Kloma Gbi, have therefore issued a press statement, condemning the incident and subsequent reaction by the Police. Below is the full statement For immediate release KROBO YOUTH CONDEMN ACT OF BRUTALITY BY CHIEF, POLICE • Challenges the traditional authorities to speak on the issue November 3, 2011; Odumase-Krobo: We the youth of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area and members of Kloma Gbi (Voice of the Krobo State) have watched with displeasure recent events related to the celebration of this year’s Ngmayem Festival of the Chiefs and people of Manya Krobo Traditional Area and feel obliged to register our displeasure at the turn of events. We want to state without reservation that we feel embarrassed as right thinking Krobos by the assault – whatever form it took- on Asafoatse Dautey Anyrah IV in public by Nene Tetteh Zogli III, the Piengua Divisional Chief. We remain neutral and would make no attempt to go into the merit of the case. However, we deem this an act of indiscretion on the part of a traditional ruler, and a leader for that matter, who should otherwise have acted in a manner befitting his status and worthy of emulation. We therefore demand an unqualified apology from him-this will be in his interest so to do- and further demand that he, together with his aides who committed the crime avail themselves for investigation in line with the laws of the land. We also condemn in no uncertain terms the attack on the Paramountcy by armed personnel of the Ghana Police Service which led to the destruction of properties and the unjustified heckling of the palace staff. We frown on acts of illegality but would want to commend the youth of the area for the swift intervention and bravery which thwarted the arrest of the occupants of the palace. Human beings are by nature defensive, hence the youth did not unjustifiably go violent; they acted in self defence-which in this case was the best of actions- because at the time of the brutality, the reason for the attack was unknown. We therefore commend the youth for gallantly defending the paramountcy and swiftly acting to foil the actions of the aggressors and subsequently restoring calm. We would also want to add that we are highly disappointed in the Intelligence Team of the traditional council who either could not, prior to the durbar, perceive the clear signals of imminent danger or refused to act to save the situation. At least the two feuding factions could have been prevented from attending the durbar. As concerned youth and proud natives of the Krobo land, the silence on the part of the paramountcy and the traditional council on the image-tainting events surrounding the celebration of this year’s festival is of great concern to us. In our judgment, we deem it necessary that the council or persons so delegated come out and lay bare the facts from an official and credible source to curb the ongoing speculations and peddling of falsehood among the public and sections of the media. Six (6) days after the said incidents at the durbar ground and three (3) days after the brutal attack by the police, no official comment has come from the traditional authorities for which reason the public has accepted as the truth the skewed versions of the story from some media houses. We demand that as a matter of urgency a statement be issued by the leadership of the traditional authorities to set the record straight, and a committee set up to look into the merit of the case for an amicable settlement. Finally, we deem it a shameful act, the actions of sections of the media who are fast blowing out of proportion the issue even without cross checking their facts in tune with best journalistic practices. It is hoped that the media will stop inflaming passions and will desist from their speculation, reporting nothing but the exact situation on the ground.