Chieftaincy Minister flays Afotey Agbo

The Minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Seidu Daana, has descended heavily on Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Greater Accra Regional Minister, for his attempt to interfere in chieftaincy matters of the Kpone Traditional area.

According to the Chieftaincy Minister, Afotey Agbo and his Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (REGSEC) should concentrate on their core responsibility, which is to see to the security of the region, and not to meddle in the affairs of the noble chieftaincy institution.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, in a story published in yesterday’s edition of The Chronicle under the headline: “Chief Calls Minister’s Bluff… Silences Greater Accra ‘Roaring Lion”, was alleged to have used his position as the head of the Greater Accra REGSEC to write a letter to the Paramount Chief of the Kpone Traditional Council demanding the removal of four persons from his Council.

The names of the four persons the Regional Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kpone-Katamanso constituency, wanted out of the Council are, Williams Nuertey Josiah, Albert Narh, William Nii Addo and Nii Tetteh Ashong II.

But, the Paramount Chief of the Kpone Traditional area, Nii Tetteh Otu II, waded in and sent a reply to the Minister, warning him to stay clear off affairs in his traditional area.

“I respectfully submit that I am surprised with the directives in your letter, because the Regional Administration is not clothed with any jurisdiction in such matters, and this, for me, amounts to undue interference in chieftaincy matters, and inimical to [the] development of the institution.

“I pray that the REGSEC desists from such acts in the future, and leave such matters to the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs,” Nii Tetteh Otu II warned.

In a sharp reaction, Seidu Daanaa, in a press release dated 20th May, 2015, and signed by Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Gloria Holm-Graves, and released in Accra yesterday, stressed; “The ministry would like to state that government does NOT by the Chieftaincy Act, (Act 759) 2008 interfere as to who is a member or not of a traditional council.”

The Chieftaincy Minister insisted that the change of membership of any traditional councils rest in the bosom of that traditional council, and by extension, the Regional Houses of Chiefs, under the supervision of the sector Ministry, and no other institution. Below is the full text of the press release:

We would like to bring to the notice of the public the Ministry’s position on a publication on Page 3 of the Ghanaian Chronicle of Wednesday, May 20th 2015, as regards chieftaincy administration of the Kpone Traditional Council (KTC). The publication made reference to a letter from the Greater-Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council to the Paramount Chief of Kpone, Nii Tetteh Otu II, asking him to remove the following names from his Traditional Council.

1. Williams Nuertey Josiah

2. Albert Narh

3. William Nii Addo

4. Nii Tetteh Ashong II.

The Ministry would like to state that government does NOT, by the Chieftaincy Act, (Act 759) 2008, interfere as to who is a member or not of a traditional council. So far as the chieftaincy administrative structure is concerned, the Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) is responsible for the provision of security of the region, including its thirteen (13) traditional areas, one of which is Kpone, but not at all the change of membership.

Indeed, issues about the change of membership of traditional councils are dealt with by the traditional councils and the Regional Houses of Chiefs, under the supervision of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, and not from any other quarters whatsoever.

We would, therefore, like to urge anyone who has a grievance against the membership of any person in the Traditional Council to take the matter to the Judicial Committee of KTC, or the Judicial Committee of the Regional House of Chiefs, or any other competent court of law in Ghana.”