Five paramountcies in Wenchi form House of Chiefs

Sunyani, Nov 18, GNA - Five paramountcies in the Wenchi District of Brong-Ahafo have resolved to establish a Wenchi District House of Chiefs and Queen mothers.

They are Badu, Banda, Nsawkaw, Seikwa and Wenchi.

A statement signed by Nana Owusu-Ansah Kokroko II, Krontihene of Wenchi Traditional Area on behalf of the five paramouncies, said the decision was taken at a three-day meeting of the traditional councils attended by 25 chiefs.

The meeting was sponsored by Care International's Wenchi District Livelihood Security and Natural Resource Management (WEDLAN) Project and was held at Techiman.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Wenchi District Assembly, decentralized departments, Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) and Centre for Legislative Affairs (CLA).

The statement said "the primary intention of the proposed House is to enable the traditional authority (traditional and divisional councils) to re-assert itself in its role in the development of our people, natural resources and environment, in a sustainable manner with the view to reducing the poverty that permeates the communities".

The statement said the chiefs noted that the House would also offer them the platform to unite in order to mainstream culture into development, mobilize communities for self-development programmes, support government policies and programmes and provide the opportunity and a mouthpiece for advocacy and policy influencing.

"We also wish with the establishment of the House to highlight the need and relevance of culture in contemporary development as envisaged in the NEPAD Document."

The chiefs said they hoped the establishment of the House would offer them the opportunity to deliberate on issues related to the chieftaincy and queen mother institutions, resolve and mitigate areas of disagreement and foster unity towards the total development of the paramouncies.

They appealed to the CIKOD and the CLA to facilitate the process towards achieving these objectives.

The statement noted that the District had the unique characteristic of having five traditional councils and several divisional councils, which are independent of each other.

It added, "The district is located within the transition ecological zone of Ghana and has the benefit of both forest and savanna ecology and the associated natural resources".

These characteristics place the traditional authority in a good position to play a leading role in management of natural resources in the district.