The return of Isaac Adibuertey Puplampu IV, an ex-convict who has persistently attempted to assert himself as chief of Hwakpo, is provoking renewed anger among senior traditional leaders in Ada. His re-emergence in chieftaincy affairs, despite a jail term and multiple courtroom defeats, has triggered what leaders describe as “needless disruptions” and “a tiring cycle of baseless suits.”
Puplampu was sentenced to three months in prison by the Sege District Court after he was found guilty of conspiracy, abetment of crime and assault. The conviction followed a violent confrontation on July 5, 2022, when he and his followers attacked gongon beaters sent by the gazetted Chief of Hwakpo, Nene Agbasi Dzikunu Ackwerh III, to announce a communal labour exercise. According to the court’s findings, the messengers were assaulted, their clothes torn, and the gongon seized and taken to Puplampu’s residence.
Since his release from prison earlier this year, the ex-convict has returned to public activity, acting once again as though he is chief of Hwakpo. But this has been met with fierce opposition. Traditional elders say his criminal conviction makes it morally inappropriate for him to carry himself as a custodian of Ada traditions. Some elders of Ada have stressed that a man jailed for attacking traditional messengers “cannot turn around and claim to be the embodiment of the same traditions he violated.”
Puplampu’s claim to the Hwakpo stool has crumbled repeatedly in both traditional and judicial forums. The Ada Traditional Council’s Judicial Committee ruled decisively that the Ackwerh family, not the Puplampus, are the rightful kingmakers of Hwakpo, a ruling that invalidated his claim to rival or parallel chieftaincy. His appeal to the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs was later struck out, reaffirming that the Ackwerh family remains the only recognized royal lineage of Hwakpo. Several related land and injunction cases filed by Puplampu and his supporters were also dismissed by the Tema High Court, with judges describing their arguments as without merit. In the latest ruling, the Lands Division of the High Court in Tema granted a writ of possession to the Ackwerh family, ordering the retrieval of properties they said had been wrongfully taken.
Despite these repeated setbacks, Puplampu has continued to institute new legal actions. Traditional leaders say they are puzzled that he avoids challenging the legitimacy of Nene Ackwerh directly — especially when those matters have already been settled — and instead focuses his efforts on attacking the gazette. Community observers believe this shift is strategic: challenging the administrative procedure of gazetting a chief may appear easier than overturning rulings that have already confirmed lineage and kingmaker rights.
“He knows very well that he cannot win the argument on who the rightful royal family is,” the Setse said in an interview. “So now he tries to poke holes in the gazette, even though the traditional rulings have already made the matter clear.”
Puplampu’s activities have resurfaced tensions in Hwakpo, an area that has endured prolonged disputes over traditional authority. Some elders say his renewed assertiveness threatens stability and creates unnecessary division at a time when the community had begun to settle under the leadership of the gazetted chief, Nene Ackwerh III. His supporters, however, maintain that he is the legitimate chief, citing his installation by the Puplampu (Adibiawe) family following the death of Nene Teyebi Puplampu III in 2019.
The situation raises broader questions about the role of criminal convictions in traditional leadership and whether someone who has served prison time for assaulting traditional emissaries can continue to lay claim to a stool. With Puplampu back in court and traditional leaders expressing fatigue over what they say is an “unending barrage” of unwarranted litigation, the Hwakpo chieftaincy dispute appears set for yet another chapter.
Whether this renewed legal confrontation will lead to final clarity or further turmoil remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: traditional leaders in Ada say they have had enough.
