Nyinawusu Chief Drags Denkyira Paramount Chief to High Court Over Stool Land Ownership

• Baffour Awuah II of Nyinawusu and his Abusuapanin have filed a suit at the High Court in Dunkwa-on-Offin against Denkyirahene Odeefuo Boa Amponsem IV
• The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the stool lands of Nyinawusu belong exclusively to the Nyinawusu Stool and cannot be claimed by the paramount chief
• The defendants have countered that Baffour Awuah II has not completed his customary installation and lacks legal standing to bring the case

Baffour Awuah II, occupant of the Kwa Dwapem Stool of Nyinawusu, and Abusuapanin Kwadwo Ofori of Denkyira Nyinawusu have filed a legal action at the High Court in Dunkwa-on-Offin against Odeefuo Boa Amponsem IV, the Paramount Chief of Denkyira Traditional Area and occupant of the Bankam Stool, over the ownership of ancestral stool lands.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Nana Ama Ayensua Saara III, Queen Mother of Denkyira Traditional Area, E. K. Naanah, described by the plaintiffs as a self-styled secretary to the Denkyirahene, and Kwasi Bekoe of Denkyira Nyinawusu.

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At the centre of the dispute are stool lands that the plaintiffs say were acquired by their ancestral parents through conquest and discovery.

The Chronicle reported that the lands in question share common boundaries with the stool lands of Manso Nkwanta, Sefwi Anwiaso, Denkyira Obuasi, Nkasawora (Nkutumso), Amansie Jacobu, Denkyira Diaso, and the Offin River.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that these lands belong solely to the Denkyira Nyinawusu Stool and that the defendants have no basis to assert any competing claim over them. They further seek a declaration that, across the whole of Denkyira, individual stool lands have historically and exclusively belonged to their respective stools and not to the paramount chief.

In addition, the plaintiffs are requesting an order restraining the defendants, along with their representatives, agents, servants, successors, and all persons acting through them, from interfering with, dealing in, or claiming ownership of the Nyinawusu ancestral stool land. They argue that any act by the first and second defendants asserting ownership over those lands is unconscionable, unlawful, and should be treated as a nullity.

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The defendants have rejected all of the plaintiffs' claims. Their primary objection is procedural: they contend that Baffour Awuah II has not completed the customary process required for installation as Chief of Nyinawusu and is not recognised by the Denkyira Traditional Council. On that basis, the defendants argue that the plaintiffs lack the legal capacity to institute the action.

The matter is before His Lordship Justice Kwame Polley, and the next sitting has been scheduled for 17 July 2026.

Source: YEN.com.gh