Odwira Festival Turns Deadly in Ahwerease: One Killed, Four Wounded in Chieftaincy Clash; 34 Suspects Arrested
The joyous Odwira Festival in Ahwerease, Akuapem South Municipality of Ghana’s Eastern Region, descended into tragedy on October 22 when a chieftaincy dispute erupted into gunfire, claiming one life and injuring four others. The clash, which marred the traditional rites marking the festival’s start, has led to the arrest of 34 suspects, with police recovering a pump-action gun and a pistol from the scene.
The violence unfolded during the lifting of the ban on drumming and noise-making, a sacred ritual to usher in the Odwira celebrations. Nana Semenhyia Asakrofa, the Abokomahene of the Asona Family, performed the ceremony, but tensions boiled over when the Abimuhene of Ahwerease contested his authority to lead the rites.
The argument swiftly escalated as irate youth from rival factions drew weapons, firing indiscriminately and pursuing fleeing participants, including festival-goers and onlookers. One victim succumbed to gunshot wounds, while the four survivors—suffering from injuries to the limbs and torso—are receiving treatment at Aburi Government Hospital.
Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Ebenezer Tetteh, confirmed the arrests at Aburi Police Station, stating, “The suspects are assisting with investigations, and the weapons will be forensically examined to trace ownership.”
Tetteh assured the public of heightened patrols to maintain peace during the ongoing Odwira, warning, “Anyone found culpable will face the full rigors of the law to serve as a deterrent.”
The Odwira Festival, a 199-year-old Ewe and Akan tradition initiated in 1826 by Nana Addo Dankwa I, symbolizes purification, thanksgiving, and ancestral homage, typically spanning a week with path-clearing ceremonies, yam outdooring, and durbars.
Celebrated in Akuapem towns like Akropong and Aburi, this year’s theme, “Preserving Our Culture, Securing Our Future,” now carries a somber undertone amid the violence, which has prompted calls for mediation by the Akuapem Traditional Council.
Ahwerease, a peri-urban community in the Eastern Region’s cocoa belt, has simmered with chieftaincy disputes since 2022, with prior clashes injuring 12 in 2024.
The Asona-Abimuhene rift centers on ritual authority in the stool house, a perennial flashpoint in Akuapem’s 17-state confederacy. Local leaders, including Municipal Chief Executive Sandra Owusu, decried the “barbaric interruption” of a festival fostering unity, urging youth restraint.
