Growing up in the North in the 1980s and 1990s, one felt good as a Gonja, when we were the reference point for how chieftaincy successions can take place in peace and harmony. Today, that reputation is all but gone, thanks largely to what I believe is an alarming rise in the number of Chieftaincy disputes in recent times. I believe we have had more chieftaincy disputes in the last one decade than we had in the whole of the last century (May be not literally).
Wasipe (between Uncle Bob Saaka and Muwura) was the first time in my young life that I heard death resulting from a Chieftaincy dispute in Gonjaland. When that unfortunate incident happened, many of us hoped and prayed that it would go down in history more as a story telling aberration. In the end, hope and prayer would not replace delibrate planning and strategies to nip these conflicts in the bud. So Buipe happened on a much larger scale, leading to loss of more lives either through death or incarceration awaiting death. A precedence had been set from which we failed to move away as a people.
I grew up at an important Gonjaland town in the 1980s, and I still have fond memories of the times we spent listening to our chiefs resolve all kinds of disputes at the Palace. It was a beauty to behold. At the end of a case, even as kids, we got a sense that justice had been done. In most cases, parties who were at the wrong end of decisions did not feel the need to appeal at the higher level, because, they would most certainly have received the same outcomes. That time seems like the stone age now. (Enter Money/Corruption, politics, greed, technology and half-baked scholars). The combination of these new factors, have increased the potential for conflict even by a remote control.
Everyone with money now feels they can make a claim to a chieftaincy title, damn the laid-down succession processes and procedures. Any one with a hint of political power feels they have a right to decide who is chief, even more disturbingly, anyone with a keyboard and a whatsapp or facebook account feels they are an expert on Gonjaland chieftaincy matters.
Yes, in a free society, everyone is entitled to and responsible for their opinions. But when opinions on chieftaincy disputes are presented as incontrovertible facts, a line has been crossed. As we say in Gonja, a handshake that extends beyond the elbow is a wrestling invitation.
We often say that there are two sides to every issue, but actually, there are three. There is the side of one party, the side of the other party, and there is the truth somewhere in between. This is what Cardinal Arinze summarised as “ your truth, my truth and the truth.”
Whatever the truth in this Damongo Chieftaincy issue is, we need to find it. Damongo is too important in Gonjaland traditional affairs to be allowed to join the unenviable ranks of Chieftaincy flashpoints in Ghana.
I have read several mentions of a 1986-document adopted by the Gonja Traditional Council Meeting in Bole, which defines the rotational lines of succession and lists the chieftaincy titles that ascend to each skin. There are a few challenges with that narrative; none to do with the authenticity of the document.
First, I am quite sure that not more than 50% of the Chiefs in Gonjaland (including sub-chiefs) are aware of the existence of this document, or even if they are aware, understand its content. This is a document whose content must be so widely available, a three-year old should be able to recite its content like a KG rhyme. It is an instrument for dispute prevention not conflict resolution. You can’t wait and pull it out at the time tempers are already boiling hot and waive it around like a documentary magic wand. It is too late, the harm is well and truly underway.
Second, it is my understanding that this document, how ever well-intentioned, does not have the force of law (I stand for correction on that). If that was the case, steps must be taken to give it the necessary legal improvements to make it binding. Then extensive workshops and seminars must be organized to educate the chiefs, who are primarily affected by its content. The annual Gonjaland symposia that have been instituted as a prelude to the annual Congress, can be an ideal venue for such seminars. The easiest way to hide such information is to put it in a document/book. Many would not care to read, even if they can. I am not oblivious of the jurisprudential axiom that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. However, the object is to render the legal battles unnecessary, or at the very least, reduce them to the bearest minimum.
Third and more importantly, there needs to be consistency in the use of the document as a reference for Gonjaland Chieftaincy successions. Principles are either fully adopted or not at all. We cannot have an Orwellian application, where we pick and choose when to apply the document, depending on the outcomes we expect. Sometimes, its application might bring up candidates who may not necessarily measure up. The application of principle must be neutral to the outcomes it generates, otherwise, there is another term for it: “double standards”. We could get away with double standards for a while, but in time the chikens will always come home to roost. There is peace in the certainty that, at all times the chips will be allowed to fall where they may, no matter whose ox is gored.
In all of this, our chiefs for whom I have the utmost reverence need to have sober reflections. We need to go back to doing the things that won us the reputation as the traditional area with the fewest chieftaincy disputes in Northern Ghana. We need to distance ourselves from the new phenomenon of installing two chiefs for one place. It imposes the biggest burden on neutral minded individuals who just want to go about their own business. Talk less of the strain it puts on family ties that have been estabalished over generations. It is akin to selling a piece of land in Accra to several persons; a sure recipe for landguards. With unemployment being what it is, and guns being so freely available, there is a large army of potential landguards everywhere, Gonjaland included.
We cannot take our peace for granted, for I dare say, peace is an exagerated concept, which gets more credit than it deserves; for it is always one gunshot away from extinction. Therefore the price of peace is perpetual vigilance.
When you hear people say the “Damongo issue is very delicate”, that is code for saying “some big man has messed up, but we can’t tell him because we are afraid”. Fear is a natural emotion and we all are afraid. But as Nelson Mandela so succinctly put it, “the fear of prison is a hindrance to liberty”. I don’t know if we have it, but there must be someone who is able to tell the “big” Chiefs what mere mortals are afraid to tell them, especially, when they are doing the wrong thing.
The roll call of chieftaincy disputes should worry all of us. Buipe only got settled not too long ago, Bolewura for a long time was having problems, Tinga, Mandari, Sonyo are all still shaky. The situation runs counter to the our long cherished accolade as an oasis of peace.
As an alumnus of the University of Cape Coast I believe in the creed of “Veritas Nobis Lumen”. Truth, our Guide. Let the truth be our guide at all times in Gonjaland Chieftaincy affairs, and long may it be told in ballads and legends, in “Damba” songs and ululations, that Gonjaland; the land of Jakpa, Kurabaso and Timu, the Land of John Dramani Mahama, is the quintessential oasis of peace in Ghana.
We are the heirs to a great legacy of peace, and we have a responsibility to bequeath to the next generation, a Gonjaland they would be proud to call home. In whatever we do, let’s think of this first.
Issahaku Gbankuliso
P. O. Box 50 E/R
Tamale N/R
