Chieftaincy disputes high in Gt. Accra

The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs has expressed worry about the rise in chieftaincy related cases in the various traditional areas.

A total of 15 chieftaincy cases were recorded by the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs in 2013. It determined two cases last year.

Harry Attipoe, Registrar of the Regional House of Chiefs, who made this known at a workshop organized for members of the Tema Traditional Council, said almost all the 12 traditional council in the region have a case to settle.

The month-long exercise is meant for all traditional areas in the Greater Accra Region.

According to him, some stakeholders do not understand the processes, thereby increasing the number of chieftaincy disputes in the region.

“Sometimes some of the charges leveled against the chief are not strong enough but as chieftaincy institutions, whether the charges are not strong enough we cannot discard them or refuse to attend to them. Whatever it is we have to accept documents and go through the process,” he stated.

He was of the view that destoolment of a chief is not done at the courts, but through the chieftaincy institutions.

Mr. Attipoe was unhappy about the delay in settling chieftaincy related cases, which hampers the work of the house of chiefs.

He was optimistic the education of members of the various traditional areas to understand the chieftaincy process would go a long way to end the high number of cases at the regional house of chiefs and traditional council.
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The registrar said that it was important to sensitize people about chieftaincy issues in order to reduce the number of cases.

He used the opportunity to appeal to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to assist chiefs financially.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Frank Asante, for his part, said the Assembly would consider a suggestion that chiefs be given allowances to enable them work efficiently.