Angry youth of the Kwahu Traditional area in the Eastern Region have petitioned the Queen Mother and the Kwahu Adontenhene to take action regarding the reported misconduct of the Kwahu Paramount Chief, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, which led to his forced resignation as Board Chairman of the State-owned Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

The youth, clad in red and black in their numbers, matched to the palace on Saturday, October 12, a day after Daasebre’s resignation, and presented their petition to the Queen Mother, Nana Adwoa Gyamfua III.

Although the petition was also addressed to the Adontenhene, Akyeamfour Asiedu Agyeman II, he was not present during the presentation.

The Bank of Ghana directed the chief’s immediate resignation as board chair of the bank after a businessman petitioned President Akufo-Addo and accused the Board Chair of abuse of office and extortion to the tune of GH₵2 million.

The Bank of Ghana in a letter dated October 10, said the chief's “continued holding of office as a Director of the ADB has become untenable due to the irreparable damage these events have caused to the image of the bank.”

Owing to this, the youth are of the view that the image of the stool and the traditional council are also at stake and must be protected.

“As clearly stated and labelled in the letter from the Bank of Ghana, demanding his immediate resignation, it is of public knowledge that it sought to suggest that Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II (Kwahumanhene) continuous hold of office as the board chairman had become "untenable due to the irreparable damage it had caused the image of the bank".

“We are affected as the youth of Kwahu and anticipate the same for all people of Kwahu descent everywhere, as such aspersions have and will continue to dent our highly built reputations as respected Kwahus in the eyes of right-thinking Ghanaians both at home and around the globe.”

According to them, the incident has exposed them to public ridicule among other tribes in both print and electronic media, and on the internet and social media.

The youth are thus demanding that the Kwahu Hemaa (Queen Mother) and Kwahu Adontenhene must as a matter of urgency, take steps to save the kingdom.

They want them to attend to the issues that have brought disgrace to the chieftaincy institution, and “take a decisive action as demanded by the customs of Kwahu to restore the sanctity of the Kingdom of Kwahu.”

“It is our hope that Nananom [Traditional leaders] are able to expedite action on this in the next 7 days without any further delays.

The youth warned that if the traditional leaders delay in taking action within the time frame they will resort to other constitutional and customary means to press home their demand.

The Queen Mother, who received the petition said she had not heard about the issue but will investigate it and take the necessary steps.

“Thank you for your good intentions and the case you've brought before me. If God permits, I won't rest on it. I will let you know the feedback. I haven't seen my son, but wherever he's gone to, he will return. I will ask him about the details of the issue and how this got out there in the public domain. I have not heard of the issue, so that's how best I can put it for now. If I knew about the issue then I could speak to it fully, so I would be a liar if I addressed the issue. So, I assure you that you will hear from me, thank you.”

Background

A businessman, Collins Darkwah Aboagye, who's a Director and shareholder of PRABHAT Trading Limited in a petition dated September 12, 2024, said the immediate past Board Chair of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) used his influence to help him secure a loan from the Agricultural Development Bank after he had struggled to get it by himself.

Having struggled to secure the loan directly from the bank and being concerned about meeting business timelines, he was introduced by a sub-chief to the Board Chairman in the early part of 2022, who agreed to facilitate the loan process quickly but on two conditions – That he would pay him GHC50, 000 cedis for the facilitation, and will also loan him an amount of two million cedis from the 12 million cedis loan once the loan was approved for him.

The businessman said he unwillingly paid the Board Chair GHS50,000 as well as the loan of 2 million cedis from the amount disbursed to him by the bank.

According to him, the Chief was to pay the money in two weeks but refused to pay after several months as the interest accrued. He said the chief only paid $20,000 of the amount after consistent pressure.

Read Also: ADB Board Chairman Kwahumanhene resigns following extortion allegations

The Chief’s appointment as ADB Board Chair

Known in private life as Eugene Asante Boadi, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, the chief is a chartered accountant by profession.

He was appointed as Board Chair of ADB in August 2021 by President Akufo-Addo. In 2017, at the age of just 34, he was enstooled as the Paramount Chief of Kwahu.

In his role as Board chair, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II was expected to support the management and staff of ADB to pursue the company’s vision, which is to be the people’s bank, harnessing the transformational power of agribusiness for wealth creation.

Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Ltd is a universal bank offering a full range of banking products and services in consumer, corporate, parastatals/public sector, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, trade and e-banking services.

Its business focus is universal banking, with a developmental focus on agriculture and more.

Read Also: Kwahu youth demand action against Paramount Chief over alleged misconduct as ADB Board chair