Japekrom Traditional Council declares Drobo as Japekrom

The Japekrom Traditional Council in the Jaman South District of the Brong Ahafo Region, has announced the change of name of the geographical area of Mpuasu-Japekrom stool land known as Drobo to Japekrom.

 Okatakyie Amoa Aturu Nkonkonkyia II, President of the Japekrom Traditional Council, said “Japekrom” and “Drobo” were two different towns located at different geographical locations and in different Districts within the Brong Ahafo Region.
    At a news conference in Accra, Okatakyie Nkonkonkyia II, who is also Paramount Chief of the Japekrom Traditional Area, said Drobo was a town in the Jaman North District and was located at approximately 32 kilometres north of Japekrom along the Japekrom-Sampa Road.
   He noted that the said Drobo in the Jaman North District was the traditional seat of the Paramount Chief of Drobo and fell under the traditional authority of the Drobo Traditional Council.
    Okatakyie Nkonkonkyia II said the historical facts and the current political map of Ghana, published by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, confirmed Drobo’s location in Brong Ahafo Region.
   “The truthful and bare fact is that the geographical area being erroneously referred to as Drobo is just an extension of the Japekrom Township,” he added.
    He said it had been noticed that some state institutions whose addresses hitherto bore the label Japekrom were being re-branded as Drobo in spite of the fact that there has not been any change in their locations at Japekrom.
    Okatakyie Nkonkonkyia II, said examples of such institutions included the Jaman South District Assembly, St. Mary’s Hospital, New Drobo Senior High School (SHS), and several other schools and businesses.
   He said it was worth noticing that it was the Japekromhene that granted and allocated lands at Japekrom for the construction of the principal offices of the then Jaman South District Assembly, New Drobo SHS and all institutions being referred to above.

   He noted that Legislative Instrument (LI) 1777 which established the Jaman South District and now (LI 2269) had no mention of Japekrom which was the largest town, but mentions names of smaller settlements.
   “This we view as a deliberate attempt to wipe out the name of Japekrom from the map and replace it with Drobo; this is a serious threat to our heritage and very existence as a people,” he said.
   He said it was therefore, hereby announced for the information of the public that, as legitimate owners of the townships forming the District capital of the Jaman South District, and in accordance with the Statutory Declarations Act 1971, ACT 389, they had since March, 2017 declared the District capital area as Japekrom.
   Okatakyie Nkonkonkyia II, noted that, the said Statutory Declaration had been duly published through a Gazette Notice in the Ghana Gazette number 104 of Friday, 13th October, 2017.
   He therefore, called on the Government, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Electoral Commission, Google Ghana, Ministry of Information, Jaman South District Assembly and other stakeholders to take notice of these facts and be guided accordingly.
   He cautioned that the Council shall not tolerate the branding of Japekrom or Mpuasu-Japekrom Stool land and any of the settlements on its stool lands in any manner suggestive of belonging to another traditional entity other than Japekrom.
   He said the Japekrom Traditional Council was the only legitimate traditional authority of all Mpuasu-Japekrom Stool lands in Mpuasu-Japekrom Traditional Area and seeks to serve and offer its services to anyone that lives on any part of the Traditional Area.
   Okatakyie Nkonkonkyia II, who said the Council does not have any issue with any law abiding settler on its stool lands, also used the occasion to welcome all investors and prospective developers to invest at Japekrom and other areas of the Jaman South Municipality.
  “We urge the media or any interested parties to challenge any person or groups who seek to contradict our facts as presented here to prove same with hard evidence as we have demonstrated,” he added.
GNA
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