By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Nalerigu (NE/R), Nov 24, GNA-Members of the North East Region House of Chiefs have received training on the Chieftaincy Act and Succession Planning as part of efforts to reduce chieftaincy-related conflicts and build peaceful resilience.
The training which brought together paramount chiefs of the Mamprugu Traditional Council in the region was to equip them with the tenets of the Chieftaincy Act of 2008, Act 759 to ensure peaceful traditional governance with respect to justice and human rights.
It was also to engage the traditional leaders and other major stakeholders at the regional level to work towards developing a succession plan for the traditional areas to serve as a roadmap for succession to prevent chieftaincy disputes.
The training, organised by the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO), a development wing of the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga was part of the implementation of its Integrated Peacebuilding for Improved Food and Nutrition Support (INPEACE) project.
Funded by the MISEREOR, a German Catholic Church Organisation, the project contributed to building peace structures at the community and district levels in the North East and Upper East Regions and aimed to consolidate the gains at the regional levels.
Speaking during the training held at Nalerigu, Dr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate of NABOCADO, acknowledged the significant role of the chieftaincy institution in promoting and sustaining peace in the country.
He said although the chieftaincy was a resilient institution which had survived several threats for centuries, the recent conflicts experienced especially in many parts of Northern Ghana called for collective action from all stakeholders.
Dr Bangu stressed that the lack of a well-documented succession plan in many parts of Northern Ghana was a major cause of the numerous chieftaincy conflicts recorded and the situation had affected several sectors of development including loss of lives, and property, posing food and nutritional concerns to many communities.
“Chieftaincy is a noble institution and that is what holds us together as a society, but the lack of a succession plan has really created a lot of problems for us and that is why we want to create awareness on the Chieftaincy Act and initiate discussion on succession planning,” he added.
Mr Bangu explained that the peace-building project was yielding positive results in the communities as it had contributed to restoring relative peace to some conflict-prone areas in the region and noted that if there was a well-documented succession plan, conflicts would minimise.
Mr Nurudeen Aliu, a Legal Practitioner who facilitated the training indicated that the Chieftaincy Act was the primary legal framework that ensured the smooth administration of the traditional governance system and promoted its relevance.
He said due to the lack of a unified succession plan for the chieftaincy institution, the Act empowered the traditional areas the mandate to establish a succession plan that would resolve chieftaincy matters and help reduce conflicts.
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Zakaria Yidana, the North East Regional Minister, urged the traditional leaders to embrace the call and develop a succession plan to help reduce conflicts and promote peace in the area.
Tarana John Wuni Grumah, First Elder of the Nayiri Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, the Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area thanked NABOCADO for the efforts to promote peace in the area and called for amendment of the Chieftaincy Act to raise the status of the Nayiri above the status of a paramount chief to a king.
GNA