By Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, Jan 03, GNA – The Central Region House of Chiefs has declared 2023, a year of peace with the commitment to resolve chieftaincy cases before it and mitigate the incidence of chieftaincy disputes in the region.
It said chieftaincy problems in the region remained unending with dire developmental effects on the affected traditional areas, hence, the need to minimise them.
In furtherance of that, the House has embarked on a project dubbed ‘Project Asomdwe’ where eminent chiefs have been selected to visit the affected areas to engage families and opinion leaders to help resolve conflicts.
Odeefo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, President of the House, noted that nine out of 34 seats in the House were vacant due to disputes.
“We have 39 cases currently before us, unfortunately, as the numbers go down, we get new cases coming in,” he told the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Central Regional Coordinating Council’s (RCC) end of year meeting.
He, however, announced that disputes in about five paramountcies had already been resolved through the ‘Asomdwe Project’ and the chiefs would join the next meeting of the House in March.
Odeefo Buadu also observed that some feuding parties were exploiting the legal system to sabotage the enstoolment process in their respective jurisdictions.
Consequently, he said the House of Chiefs had resolved that it would no longer consider issues relating to such legal cases.
This means that if a chief has a case in court, he would be permitted to work normally as a chief until a final determination is made by the court.
“If the chief in the case happens to lose, his name will be removed from the register.
“The mere fact that somebody has taken a chief to the court does not mean, he should not have the opportunity to perform his duties as a chief. This has helped minimise the disputes that we have,” he revealed.
He explained that the resolution started not long ago, and the house was sure that chieftaincy disputes would go down considerably.
Odeefuo Buadu stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to bring peace in homes and communities to ensure that the nation progressed.
“I foresee peace, unity and progress as three key things that the new year will bring. For us to have peace, it is important that we respect each other,” he stressed.
GNA