The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has destooled the Apatrapahemaa, Oheneba Akyaa Panin III, after determining that she does not belong to the royal lineage qualified to occupy the stool.
The decision brings to an end her 24-year reign as queenmother. In a customary ceremony held at the Manhyia Palace, her traditional footwear was publicly removed, a symbolic act that formally marked her destoolment.
The ruling followed findings that Oheneba Akyaa Panin III is not of royal blood and therefore lacks the legitimate ancestral claim to the Apatrapahemaa stool. Her purported linkage to the Bosom Prah Kumaa Stool of Apatrapa was described as historically unfounded and was subsequently rejected.
The family of Nana Kwafo, the first chief to ascend the Apatrapa stool, argued that the destooled queenmother is not related to the royal family by blood. They explained that her family was originally accepted into the household in a caretaker capacity and not as members of the royal lineage.
According to the family, when the Apatrapa stool became vacant at a time when the legitimate royal family had no qualified male successor, the caretaker family temporarily assumed control of the stool.
In his ruling, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II upheld the claims of Nana Kwafo’s family, stating that historical records show no genealogical or customary relationship between the Apatrapa stool and the Bosom Prah Kumaa Stool.
Following the destoolment, the Asantehene directed Maame Pomaa to take temporary custodianship of the Apatrapa stool while processes are initiated to identify a suitable and legitimate candidate to ascend it.
