Traditional authorities in the Sokode Traditional Area have annulled a death curse placed on President Akufo-Addo and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Prof. Lydia Aziato.
The curse was invoked by unidentified individuals in opposition to a planned honorary doctorate to be conferred on President Akufo-Addo by UHAS.
The UHAS Council had announced its decision to honour the President for his contributions to STEM, secondary education, and the development of UHAS.
This decision, however, faced strong opposition from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), whose late member, President John Evans Atta Mills, had conceived the establishment of the university.
The Concerned Volta Youth, a local youth group, also held a press conference criticizing the university’s decision.
In response, the regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) dismissed the opposition’s actions as frivolous. Despite this, some unidentified youth took further action, invoking the gods and the spirit of the late Prof. Mills to harm President Akufo-Addo and Prof. Aziato during their journey to the ceremony.
They performed a ritual involving the pouring of libation, slaughtering a ram, and spreading its blood at the university’s entrance.
The leader of the group declared, “We heard that they are saying it was not you, Prof. Mills, who established the university and that it was Akufo-Addo, so they want to honour him. Prof. Mills, you led the establishment of the university. If today they are saying that you are not the one, I am handing them over to you to judge. When they set off for the honorary doctorate to be conferred on President Akufo-Addo for establishing the university, strike them dead before they get to this very spot. Prof. Lydia Aziato, the day you receive them, whoever is scheduled to speak at the ceremony should vomit blood when he gets to this very spot.”
In a swift intervention, the Sokode Traditional Authorities performed a counter-ritual to revoke the curse, asserting their authority over the land.
Togbe Awee Japhet Amoako, the Dutor of the Sokode Traditional Area, addressed the media, emphasizing that rituals cannot be performed on their land without permission.
“This is our land, and you need to ask permission before you perform any rituals here. The school belongs to the world. We, the people of Sokode, are not against anybody. Development is in phases. Some will construct schools, others will build roads, and others will build toilets and markets. That is development. I am telling you whatever evil that they think will occur here, it will not. Sokode Paramountcy has cancelled everything,” he stressed.
Preparations continue unabated for the conferment of the honorary doctorate on President Akufo-Addo and the commissioning of the China Phase Two expansion project at UHAS.