Chief calls for appointment of chieftaincy minister

Okumanini Professor Obiri Yeboah 11, the Paramount chief of Efutuakwa Traditional Area, on Wednesday appealed to the President to appoint a Minister to be in-charge of chieftaincy affairs.

''This is imperative because under the Chieftaincy Act 370 certain functions have been listed to be performed solely by a Minister of chieftaincy affairs.'' Okumanini Obiri-Yeboah, who was speaking at an end-of-year meeting of the House at Cape Coast, did not say what those functions are but stressed that some of the major chieftaincy disputes could have been avoided if such a minister were in place.

He said the Minister would also be the focal point through whom the institution would make its concerns known and who would in turn articulate such concerns at cabinet and parliamentary levels.

Okumanini Obiri-Yeboah said such a Minister could also work in collaboration with the President of the National House of Chiefs to promote the interest of chiefs and help reduce the spate of chieftaincy disputes in the country.

Other members of the House supported the call and said the absence of such a Minister had left the chieftaincy institution ''without a speaker at the national level.'' The President of the House, Nana Atta Amanafo Poku II, advised chiefs to ensure that disputes were nipped in the bud by ensuring that they are settled amicably.

Nana Poku reminded chiefs that it was their responsibility to ensure that land in their areas are problem free in order to attract investors. He appealed to the government to re-introduce the rural housing scheme to provide more low cost houses for rural dwellers.