Gbeture-Naa Alhaji Issa Bukari, Head of the Princes of the Wala Traditional Area has called a news conference to state their opposition to the nomination of Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo as the new Wa-Naa. Mr. Pelpuo, a former employee of the defunct Ominibus Services Authority was reportedly nominated by a faction of the royal gate on Friday and is due to be outdoored on January 27, to succeed the late Naa Seidu Yakubu Seidu Soale II, who died last September. But Naa Bukari has declared the purported nomination as null and void because the chiefs and elders of the Jonnyuosi, Najeri and Yijisi royal clans, kingmakers of Wa together with the Foroko, who has the responsibility of crowning any elected Wa Naa were not party to the nomination. Naa Bukari, who addressed the press conference on behalf of the three of the four royal clans (kingmakers), said the Tendaana (land guardian) of Wa, Mahama Bayon, has no authority under Wala custom and practices, to convene a meeting to elect or enskin Wa-Naa. Producing documents from the Supreme Court and the National Archives to support his claim, he said only the "Nabikkpon" or head of the princes was vested with the power to convene a meeting to elect a chief and such a meeting was always chaired by the Busa Naa or regent of Busa. He said when he was informed that the Tendaana and one Alhaji Mogtare (Yare Naa) were about to convene a meeting with the purpose of nominating a Wa Naa, he wrote to the chairman of the Municipal Security Committee, stating their position but the letter was ignored. Instead, he said, the Chairman of the committee, who is also the Municipal Chief Executive, allowed the meeting to go ahead and to their surprise, heavily armed police and military personnel were deployed at the venue to give security cover while the ceremony went ahead. "Wa chieftaincy was founded by our grandfather in the mid 17th Century. Our traditions and practices have come a long way. We should be careful when dealing with traditional matters" Naa Bukari stated. However, he noted that the administrative authorities in the region refused to accept the validity of that meeting because the Nakpaaha, which is the fourth gate to the Wa skin and the Tendaana, refused to attend. Source: The Ghanaian Times