Chieftaincy should be restored to its proper place -JAK

President John Kufuor on Wednesday said the Presidential Advisory Committee on Chieftaincy Affairs was established to assist government to restore the institution to its proper place in society.

"Government does not want the nation to return to the days of political interference in Chieftaincy affairs," he said. "However, the government has a responsibility to ensure that the instability being generated in the name of chieftaincy affairs ceases."

President Kufuor said this when administering the oaths of office and secrecy to five out of the six-member Committee at the Castle, Osu. They were: Justice George Lantey Lamptey, former Supreme Court Judge, Chairman; Mamaga Amega Kofi Bra I, Queenmother of Peki Traditional Area; Paul Kwabena Damoah, former Member of Parliament for Amenfi in the Western Region during the Third Republic (1979-81); Professor Irene Korkoi Odotei, a Research Fellow at the University of Ghana, Legon and Nana Ampadu Daaduam II, Kwahu-Mpraesohene.

Edward Dramani Mahami, a legal practitioner, the sixth member, was absent. President Kufuor said a dynamic partnership between the government and chiefs could be the platform for the transformation of the nation.

He said available records indicated that since independence, successive regimes had tried to define a role for chieftaincy in the national scheme of things. President Kufuor said in the process, the institution had been subjected to a chequered and not too happy history. It had been subjected to political interference and was at the risk of losing its integrity and historic purpose.

President Kufuor said fortunately, the 1992 Constitution restored chieftaincy to its traditional roots and clearly defined a role for it. "A sincere application of the Constitution should protect the institution from any unwarranted abuse and misuse."

He said people had strong attachment to the institution and throughout the country; people had always been ready to defend the essence of the stool or skin in their communities.

President Kufuor said people were more ready to risk their lives in the defence of the institution than to stand up against the encroachment on their constitutional rights in the modern political system.

Unfortunately, he said, the system of selection and installation of chiefs had been corrupted and the management of the affairs of some stools and skins had been the subject of controversy.

President Kufuor said although there had always been rivalry in the process of selecting chiefs, corruption had resulted in the selection and installation of people undeserving in character and lineage.

"The practice has meant that in many cases, even the institutional memory and wisdom that are so crucial to the functioning of chieftaincy is lost." President Kufuor said the problem of land must be resolved if the government's economic plans were to come to fruition.

He said the land problem could only be resolved with the co-operation of chiefs, who were the custodians of the land. President Kufuor said it was the responsibility of the Committee to work with the chiefs and elders to enable them to advise government on the way forward.

Justice Lamptey said one of the many problems facing the country was chieftaincy dispute and this could not be allowed to continue to destroy life and property. He said the establishment of the Committee was timely since chiefs now had a Committee to address their problems adding; "it would be the eyes and ears of chiefs".

Justice Lamptey appealed to chiefs and Ghanaians to make their views on customary law, inheritance and customary land title holdings known to the Committee. Among those present was Vice President Aliu Mahama.