Crush riots - Ashitey to Ga chiefs

The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs knows the causes of the chieftaincy disputes in the region, hence must find permanent solutions to them, Ishmael Ashitey, Greater Accra Regional Minister-designate, has said.

His comment follows Tuesday’s clash between rival factions of the Ga state at the Ga Mantse Palace over chieftaincy disagreements. The clash resulted in some residents of North Kaneshie in Accra fleeing their homes and shops.

Three men sustained injuries, although the police arrived at the scene on time to bring the situation under control.

Speaking in relation to this matter in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Wednesday January 25, Mr Ashitey said: “The chiefs know where the problem is but sometimes they overlook those problems and don’t handle those things properly. We have a Regional House of Chiefs and it is their responsibility to settle the chieftaincy disagreement.

“Chieftaincy is not like politics where you can just wake up one morning and say you also want to contest. You have to come from a particular house or clan.

“If they had followed the processes of installing a chief, most of these problems would be resolved and so we (government) will dialogue with them so that we all understand that we need peace in Ghana, and to be able to get peace we must do what is right.”