Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin has denounced the “Agyapadie” document, which features his image and alleges a strategy to position the Akyem people at the forefront of Ghana’s economy, as a complete fabrication designed to incite hatred against the Ofori Panin household and Okyeman.
Speaking at the Akyem Abuakwa State Council meeting over the weekend, Okyenhene urged his kinsmen and the general public to disregard the document.
“We saw this during the period of J.B Danquah and we’re seeing this now. In and around October 2016, a few months before the election, the same document known as the ‘Akyem Project’ was in circulation. Its goal was to create division between Okyeman and Asanteman to undermine Nana Akufo-Addo’s election efforts. Unfortunately for them, it came too late.”
“This diabolic plan was revised in 2019. When the Agyapa business became a political issue in 2020, the book suddenly transformed into ‘Agyapadie’,” he noted at the State Council meeting in Kyebi.
Okyenhene also refuted claims of extraordinary recent prominence for the Ofori Panin Fie, stating that the Eastern Region had more representation in former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s cabinet than under Akufo-Addo.
He suggested that the ongoing controversy is intended to stir resentment against the Akyem people.
Addressing rumors about his wealth, he humorously remarked, “The funniest of it is that I am the richest chief in Ghana. I mean how? Anyway, when anyone regards you as a rich person, you must receive it. I receive it,” he said with a smile.
He condemned the document as part of a broader scheme to create animosity towards Okyeman. Despite some Akyem natives’ significant public service careers, he highlighted that little progress has been made for Okyeman’s development.
Okyenhene called on his kinsmen to defend Okyeman against falsehoods and hate speech.
“Some people deliberately go to work just to denigrate Okyeman and make us look evil in the eyes of the public. But such people must remember that they have family too—would they be comfortable if such palpable lies were said about them and their generation?”