Even before government starts with the drawings for the proposed National Theatre for Kumasi, litigation has already started on land intended for the project.

The Asaman Kani Ekuona royal family of Apire near Kumasi under the direct instruction of the nonagenarian Obaapanin Adwoa Adowah, is claiming ownership of the site, said to be part of the 19.89 acres of land in Kumasi belonging to the family.

The family has since last week Thursday, embarked on an exercise to restrain people who are reportedly encroaching on the land.

Madam Abena Mensa and Afia Kese, under Obaapanin Adwoa Adowaa’s instructions have publicly invoked the powers of six deities including Akyekyeresi Abena, Abankoro Apepe, Nkyekwaa, Oleba and Kintampo Nyame (god of thunder) to stop the wanton sale of lands belonging to the family, without their consent.

The women want the gods to strike dead anyone who has sold and acquired their land illegally.

Abena Mansa and Afia Kese first poured libation to the ancestors at the royal mausoleum Kumasi, where King Obiri Yeboah, the third royal head of Asanti was buried, invoking them to protect the land they bequeathed to Asanteman which are allegedly being sold by some chiefs without care.

The aggrieved women were also at the site opposite Golden Tulip Kumasi City Hotel, where the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly is developing a modern recreational centre. They complained to the gods that the Asantehene had arbitrarily taken over their lands, and that they were no longer recognized as descendants of Nana Obiri Yeboah by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

They singled out one royal, the Akyempimhene of Kumasi, Oheneba Adusei Poku whom they said they want to treat as a son and not one of the chiefs involved in the sale of their lands.

The Asaman Kani royal family wants their lands back as soon as possible. They are also seeking -recognition by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the direct descendants of Nana Obiri Yeboah, the originator of the Ashanti dynasty.

Obaapanin Adowah has threatened to expose the true lineage of the Ashanti dynasty if their demand is not met within three months.