Minister Tasks Chiefs • Over Litigations

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs has been tasked to seek ways of addressing the numerous litigations that has engulfed the chieftaincy institution in the region. This was to enable the house fill the membership vacancy created as a result of litigations over the rightful occupant of a stool. Nii Armah Ashitey, Greater Accra Regional Minister, made this call at the presentation of the refurbished Guggisberg Memorial Hall to the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa, a suburb in Accra on Thursday. The refurbishment of the house which cost an estimated GH¢45,000, was collectively financed by all 10 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region. The house was furnished with 50 chairs, 6 conference tables, 5 table chairs, curtains for the offices and the hall and carpets for the main hall. The regional minister, in his speech to the chiefs, said the chieftaincy institution which is supposed to epitomize the cherished cultural heritage has entangled itself in long, time-consuming litigations and disputes and family feuds at the expense of completing the efforts of government. He further added that, even though article 270 of the 1992 constitution states clearly that government should not interfere in chieftaincy matters, “we cannot sit idle whilst these disputes destroy our heritage and result in conflicts and sometimes chaos.” He said it was time to rise up to the occasion and work towards peaceful resolution of the numerous disputes confronting the region. “Nene, it is our wish, hope and prayer that our chiefs and elders would spend time to fashion out ways of settling and addressing the many cases before them,” he noted. Nii Armah Ashitey was however happy the regional house of chiefs is currently dealing with the litigation regarding the succession to the Ga Mantse stool. “I will entreat all the claimants in this case to cooperate and accede to the proceeding of the house in the settlement of the impasse.” He also urged the house to embrace the customary law project that seeks to codify customary laws in Ghana and also to compile customary laws and lines of succession as a process of ensuring, stability, security, and peace for national development and cohesion. “I believe when completed, it will ensure that prospective royal lineage and candidate thereof to stools and skins will be clearly identified, documented, thereby eliminating disputes and conflicts associated with the enstoolment and enskinment of chiefs in the country.” The regional minister later assured the house of government’s support to develop the traditional institutions for them to take their rightful position in the current democratic dispensation. In his acceptance speech thanked the minister and the government for refurbishing the Guggisberg Memorial Hall. He also requested for the construction of the road leading to the house as well as a stand by generator for the house. Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III, president of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs said the gesture will go a long way to improve upon the work of the house in the region. The president also assured government the house will be fair, objective, sincere, impartial and above all neutral in the adjudication of the litigations before it, “so that in the end justice would be seen to be done and the verdict accepted by all the parties involved.”

Caption: Nii Armah Ashitey with the members of the Greater Accra House of Chiefs in a group photo.