Nana Amoako Poku, a 68-year-old royal of Offinso Ahyirem Royal Family, has been named as the Offinsohene elect.
His name came up at an Asanteman Council meeting in Kumasi on Monday [December 18, 2023].
It was the last Asanteman Council meeting of 2023 and had the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II presiding.
When the Offinso vacant stool case was called, the Offinso Queen mother was absent at the meeting.
The Kwakwaboa Abusuapanyin, Opanyin Yaw Nkrumah Adusah in line with Asante tradition in the absence of the Queen mother was asked by the Asantehene on the status of vacant stool and the process of the family to choosing a royal to fill the vacant stool.
The Kwakwaboa Abusuapanyin, Opanyin Yaw Nkrumah Adusah immediately told the meeting that the family was nominating Nana Amoako Poku and went ahead to introduce Nana Amoako Poku to the Asantehene and the meeting as the Offinsohene elect amidst jubilation, Kwame Asare Boadu who was at the meeting told Graphic Online.
Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, who had earlier been named by the Queen mother of Offinso as a candidate for the vacant position but was rejected by the Asantehene was not present and few of his supporters around filed away quietly.
The development followed the failure of the Queen mother of Offinso, for the third time, to nominate a qualified royal of the Offinso Royal Family to occupy the stool.
In accordance with Asante tradition, the Abusuapanyin assumed responsibility, in consultation with the royal family, to nominate a qualified royal for the stool.
Nana Amoako Poku is a renowned curator of Asante heritage, a timber merchant and the Otumfuo Kekabuosohene.
On the previous occasions that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II offered the Offinso Queen mother the opportunity to nominate a candidate for the vacant stool, she nominated Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, a former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
But that was challenged with the explanation that Dr K.K. Sarpong was not from the royal family.
The Asantehene offered the Queen mother the opportunity to go back, consult extensively with the royal family and nominate a candidate.
On the second occasion, the Queen mother presented the name of Dr K.K. Sarpong again, and it was again challenged for the same reason.
On one occasion, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II traced the history of the Offinso royal family and pointed to names and maternal relations from where the Queen mother was to look and select a candidate but she insisted on Dr. K.K. Sarpong.
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