The Yamonransa Nkusukum Traditional Council in the Central Region has stripped of the chieftaincy title bestowed on gay rights activist, Davis Mac-Iyalla, barely three days after being paraded as a chief.
“We wish to state that no title has been conferred on him as Amankorehen or Yamonransa in view of the latest information that reached us about him, and he does not carry any title as Amankorehen,” the Paramount Chief of the Nkusukum Traditional Area, Nana Okese Essandoh IX told journalists on Tuesday, January 31.
Davis Mac Iyalla was said to have been installed as the Amankorehen on Saturday, January 28, 2023 under heavy security.
The Amankorehen is the Development chief who usually promotes activities that accelerates the development of an area and it is usually given to persons, and even foreigners who have contributed to the development of a community
However, his installation did not go the full haul as some rites that have to be performed to complete the rituals to make him a chief were not down.
During his coronation over the weekend, Mr. Mac-Iyalla whose stool name is Nana Kwesi Gyasi I, was carried in a palanquin and paraded in the streets.
But on reaching the grounds, Nana Gyasi together with the Paramount Chief of the Nkusukum Traditional Area held in a meeting with the police for about an hour.
They emerged out of the meeting with amendment to the programme lineup and due to that, the swearing of oath of allegiance to the Omahen in state on the initial programme was cancelled.
Nana Okese Essandoh IX at a press conference said, “It was during the process of installation as the Amankrohen (Nkosuohene) that information came that Kweku Adu is also known as Mr. Davis Mac-Iyalla and has been supporting LGBTQI+ and its related activities.”
The Paramount Chief stated that “immediately this information came to our attention, we called for the whole process [of installing] Mr. Davis Mac-Iyalla to be halted”.
Shedding light on the issue, the chief said Mr. Mac-Iyalla has been living in Cape Coast for over 10 years and has even been installed as a chief there with the stool name Nana Kwesi Adu.
According to him, he met Nana Kwesi Adu (Mac-Iyalla) through friends from Cape Coast who attested to how helpful he has been in bringing development project to the area.
So the Council also decided to “honour him” with the title of Amankorehen, which he said is a ceremonial position or title which can be bestowed on any person regardless of his lineage or linkage to any stool.
He stated further that the Council has been organizing Africans in diaspora who traced their root to Yamoransa and have even been given local names.
Davis Mac-Iyalla is Nigerian LGBTQ rights campaigner who claimed be a British citizen.
According to Nana Okese Essandoh IX, the broader vision of Mr. Mac-Iyalla was to lure investors from US and Europe to boost development in his Area.
Meanwhile, Davis Mac-Iyalla has told the media that he is an unapologetic gay rights activist who is never ashamed of defending the rights of gays.
He however declined to declare his own sexual orientation.
“I will not tell that now,” he told a local radio station based in the Central region after his purported installation.