Project to codify customary laws underway

Sekondi, Aug. 6 GNA - A project to codify the customary laws of traditional areas is underway, Mr Anthony Evans Amoah, the Regional Minister announced at Sekondi last Wednesday. Addressing a general meeting of the Western Region House of Chiefs, he said the project, dubbed the "Ascertainment of Customary Law Project" (ACLP), is aimed at making customary laws accessible in traditional areas.

Mr Amoah said the project together with Government's Land Administrative Project, would ensure that disputes over chieftaincy and land issues were minimised if not entirely removed.

He appealed to all chiefs to support the project to be successful and said differences that often arose from ethnic and cultural diversity ought not to retard the development of communities.

Mr Amoah called on chiefs to assist government to ensure that nothing was done to disturb the peace in the country. He said as chiefs they should always ensured that their people abide by the laws and customs of the country and in their communities respectively.

He said a major issue affecting development in the area was "galamsey" (small scale mining) mainly because their activities were not properly organised and regulated.

Mr Amoah said government was not against small scale mining, but expected that operators in sector were organised, registered and issued with licences to have their activities supervised. "The idea of digging anywhere and anyhow, damaging private and public properties and degrading the environment is what government frowns upon and I wish that the chiefs will assist us to put this message across particularly to our youth," he said. On Ghana's oil find, Mr Amoah said: "It is only when we have a united front and are ready to develop the industry in peace and harmony that investors will be interested in putting their money into the industry".

He called on chiefs to work in close collaboration with the District Assemblies to have their areas properly zoned and serviced to give them a higher value for their land than could be obtained when sold in their current state.

Awulae Attibrukusu III, the President of the Western Region House of Chiefs, commended the Regional Development Association for holding a series of joint consultative meeting for chiefs and people of the region aimed at sustainable management and development of the region's natural resources.

He alleged that some divisional and area chiefs were claiming ownership of lands with some already appended indentures to sell lands without recourse to their paramount chiefs.

Awulae Attibrukusu said the practice was gaining ground in the southern part of the region and if nothing was done, paramount stools would not own lands in future.

He called on the Regional Lands Officer to assist to put a stop to the practice and noted, however, that the number of chieftaincy disputes before the Judicial Committee of the House, has reduced drastically to 16 cases and asked committee members to further reduce it to a single digit. 8 Aug 08