BA chiefs angry over bribery allegation

The Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs has angrily reacted to allegations of bribery levelled against them in the Chronicle newspaper by three chiefs seeking admission into the House.

The House has in effect issued a seven-day ultimatum to the three Tano Subin Chiefs, namely Nana Baffour Asare, Tuobodomhene; Nana Oduro Boamah, Tanoboasehene and Nana Kwaku Yiadom Boakye, Tanosohene as well as the Chronicle newspaper to retract the said publication and render an unqualified apology to the House, or else face the consequences.

The Chronicle on Monday, October 7, 2013 with a screaming banner headline “Bribery Rocks BA House of Chiefs,” quoted the three paramount chiefs as saying that members of the House have been taking bribes from unnamed sources to deny them the right to become members of the House.

“One of the Paramount Chiefs, who has been resorting to crude and unauthorized steps to ‘colonise’ the three stool lands, has paid huge and substantial amount of money to grease the palms of some leading characters of Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs to thwart and stall the invitation of the three to participate in and attend meetings of the House,” the paper quoted the chiefs as alleging.

However, addressing the media in Sunyani on Monday to respond to the allegations, the President of the House, Pemampem Yaw Kagbrese V and his Vice, Nana Bofo Bene IV supported by Nananom of the House described the allegations as blatant and naked lies which must be treated with all the contempt they deserved.

“The said publication and the contents therein, not only are false but baseless, malicious and found to be a calculated attempt to impugn or tarnish the hard-earned reputation of this noble House, which these very chiefs desire to join, making a total mockery of themselves,” the House stated.

The House, in challenging the three chiefs to substantiate the allegations, said they would surely advise themselves to safeguard the image of the House after the one-week ultimatum if the three affected chiefs and the newspaper failed to comply with the orders.

Setting the records straight, the House explained that it had on three previous occasions invited the said chiefs who were recently elevated into paramountcies to take their oaths for admission to full membership of the House to enable them to attend meetings, but on each occasion, the House was advised by the National Security Council through the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council on grounds of serious security situations in those areas of Tano-Subin of the Region, saying that the said information was on each occasion communicated to the three chiefs.

“Interestingly, it was this very House which the very chiefs are accusing of receiving bribes, facilitated the entries of their names in the National Register of Chiefs by recommending their Chieftaincy Declaration Forms to the National House of Chiefs for approval in accordance with Article 270 (3b) of the 1992 Constitution and the Chieftaincy Act (Act 759, S-57(5).

“Besides, a member of the House was among a five member Committee of the National House of Chiefs which quite recently met with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Chieftaincy to discuss the new Legislative Instrument on Chieftaincy, of which the said Areas have been listed as paramount chiefs in the Brong Ahafo Region that were successfully defended,” the House disclosed.

The House therefore expressed their complete dismay and surprise about the turn of events describing the action of the said chiefs as a stab in the back as it claimed that the three chiefs were privy to all these happenings.

The House seized the opportunity to assure the public and all interested parties that it is ever ready to induct the three chiefs into the House as soon as the National Security Council gives the green light in terms of security situations in the said paramountcies.

Meanwhile, the three chiefs have filed a joint motion of mandamus at the Sunyani High Court invoking the supervisory jurisdiction of the court to compel the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs to invite them to participate in meetings and businesses of the House in their capacities as Paramount Chiefs.