The Independent reports that some members of the press were detained at the Manyhia Palace in Kumasi for filing stories about the death of the Asante King without first clearing with Palace officials. Headlined “Chiefs descend on the Press, GBC Threatened with closure and Independent Reporter detained” the story has it that all pressmen in Kumasi were summoned to the Manyhia Palace for a meeting with over 150 chiefs reported to be in mourning cloths. ‘At the meeting ‘ the story continues ‘ the chiefs expressed their displeasure at the way GTV, Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Chronicle and Ashanti Pioneer reported the death of the Asante King, Otumfuo Opoku WareII, without clearance from Manhyia. The paper also claims that a BBC correspondent Kwabena Akosa Sarpong, has had to flee Kumasi for his ‘dear life’ for breaking the news of the demise of Asantehene on BBC last Thursday. Meanwhile the GBC regional offices in Kumasi are under the threat of closure if the Regional Director fails to respond to a summon to Manhyia a second time.
