Chiefs advised against breaking the law in settling disputes

The Eastern Regional Commander of the Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Akuribah Yaagy, has appealed to traditional authorities in the Eastern Region to desist from the use of lawless means in settling chieftaincy disputes.

He appealed to the chiefs to adopt alternative dispute resolution mechanism in settling their disputes to ensure chieftaincy issues were peacefully and amicably settled in the Region.

DCOP Yaagy said where the disputants decided to use the adversarial system of justice, then there should be a strict observation of the due process of enstooling and distooling of a chief and queen mother with strict adherence to the Chieftaincy Act and the Public Order Act.

He was speaking at a press conference organized by the regional police command on the dangers of the existence of too many chieftaincy disputes in the region and their effect on law enforcement, safety and security of the region.

DCOP Yaagy appealed to the National House of Chiefs and the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs to speed up the compilation of the line of succession to the various stools and skins to help minimize chieftaincy disputes in the country.

He expressed regret that the region had 25 known chieftaincy disputes which put a lot of pressure on the Police Service since they had to provide security in those places during festivals, funerals or the visit of important personalities to some of these areas.