The Paramount Chief of Apesokubi Traditional Area, Okogyeaman Asiedu Koram II, has stated that there is no place called Akposso so far as historical evidence and records are concerned.
According to him, those sponsoring and leading the Akpossos to claim that Apesokubi is their ancestral home must revisit history because they are either been deceived or making false claims.
Okogyeaman made this statement at a press conference to refute the falsehood paraded by the descendants of Akposso immigrants who hail from Togo, but finally settled in the Apesokubi Traditional Area in Ghana as farmers during the 20th century.
The following he stated were their claims: that the Akposso immigrants living in the Apesokubi Traditional Area are the Indigenous inhabitants of the area,
That they are the rightful landowners in the area; that the area is called Akposso-kubi and not Apesokubi and that they are the rightful chiefs and traditional authorities in the area.
Following the defeat of Germany in the First World War, the Akposso traditional state/ political district in German Togoland was partitioned into two between France and Britain, thereby placing a one-half portion in French Togoland/Republic of Togo and the other half portion in British Togoland/Republic of Ghana.
The above claims Okogyeaman Asiedu Koram mentioned, are not only completely baseless but are also utterly false.
He emphasized that historical evidence establishes clearly and conclusively indicates that, the indigenous inhabitants of the Apesokubi Traditional Area are Akans whose forebears acquired the area and have since remained in uninterrupted possession and occupation of lands in the area for more than three hundred years. ”
“Records affirm APESOKUBI as the true and correct name of the area. It is untrue for anybody to say that the name APESOKUBI is a distortion or corruption of AKPOSSO-KUBI”.
“All available historical evidence establishes clearly and conclusively that the Indigenous inhabitants of Apesokubi/Apesokubi Traditional Area are Akans whose forebears acquired the area by conquest and settlement, and who have since remained in uninterrupted and effective possession and occupation of lands in the area for more than three hundred years, through warfare, court litigations, official state, and institutional/departmental inquiry proceedings, and officially recorded peacefully negotiated settlements with adjoining neighbouring traditional states/areas”.
Okogyeaman Asiedu Koram Idisclosed further that, they have in their possession detailed particulars (table attached on page 19 of the main document) of some of the pioneer Akposso immigrants in Apesokubi Traditional Area, their immediate ancestry, and the several different towns, villages, and areas in Togo as their places of origin and the landlords who hosted them when they arrived in Apesokubi in Ghana.
He said, there is an ongoing treacherous project known as the ‘Akposo Project’ by the descendants of the Akposso immigrants in the Apesokubi Traditional Area to extend the erstwhile Akposso traditional state in the French Togoland/Republic of Togo into the British Togoland/Republic of Ghana.
“The advocates and sponsors of the said ‘Akposso Project’ claim that the areas constituting Jasikan, Kadjebi and Biakoye Districts in the Oti Region of Ghana were originally part of the said Akposso traditional state”.
The purpose of the ‘Akposso Project’ he averred, is to claim and restore the so-called erstwhile ‘Akposso Territory’ to Akpossos as their homeland, using Apesokubi for the regrouping of the Akposso immigrants from French Togoland/Republic of Togo.
“We have absolutely no doubt in our minds that the said ‘Akposso Project’ has dire consequences and implications for the true Indigenous people of Buem State, Jasikan District, and Biakoye District, and so we hereby invite all concerned to take note and act appropriately”.
He pointed out that due to the hospitable nature of the Akan indigenous citizens, the Apesokubi Traditional Area became and still is home to diverse ethnic groups who live in harmony, except the Akpossos who are always fomenting trouble and insecurity.
Among the various ethnic groups who serve under the Apesokubi Stool, through their respective Head-Men Okogyeaman Asiedu Koram II stated comprises, the Ewes (i.e. Ghana Ewes and Togo Ewes), Kotokolis, Basares, Kabee, Atakpame etc.
“Where were the Akposso immigrants when NANANOM and the Indigenous citizens were executing the formal transfer of Lands such as the one in favor of the Bremen Mission in 1913 and also engaging in protracted court litigations, judicial inquiries, and settlement negotiations and agreements to determine the boundaries of Apesokubi Stool and Apesokubi Traditional Area with their immediate neighbors of Asatu and Worawora, among others?”.
He further stated,” It is important to note that when the Akpossos arrived in the Apesokubi Traditional Area, they did not come along with any Black Stool. They willingly accepted to be distributed among families/landlords who readily accepted them”.
