Chiefs in Upper East educated on ADR

Bolgatanga, Aug. 14, GNA- Paramount, Divisional and Sub Chiefs from the Upper East Region were on Thursday educated on the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), as an option to resolving disputes within their traditional areas.

The two-day workshop, which was organised and sponsored by the Land Law Focal Area of the Legal Pluralism and Gender Project of the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ), would take participants through innovative approaches to bridge the gap between customary law and state legal system.

It is expected to provide access to justice for all especially women and the rural poor by involving the chiefs as a pivot in the legal system and administration.

Opening the workshop, the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, said the ADR approach was to inject transparency and fairness in the justice delivery system and at the same time reduce the number of cases pending before the courts unresolved as a means of minimising tensions and conflicts.

He said under the current legal system where most of the law courts were choked with unresolved cases, resolution through mediation and negotiation are preferred and suitable for the Upper East Region.

Mr Salifu said the government was mindful of nurturing the country's young democracy to appreciable heights through the use of rule of law and respect for human rights that could create a cohesive environment for the tenets of democracy.

The Minister expressed appreciation for the role chiefs play in resolving some land disputes, marriage and other family problems in their areas, describing such role as unique and urged the organisers to emphasise on the need for the chiefs to willingly release land for development purposes.

The Project Officer of the Land Law Focal Area of GTZ, Ms Akyaa Arhin, said her organisation was tasked to deal mainly with issues involving land, including access to land, land management, participation in decision-making for land use and the role of traditional authorities in land matters.

She said GTZ had organised training for chiefs in Southern Ghana with positive a response adding that available statistics indicate that about 85 percent of cases in the courts are land related, while 50 applications are received daily but only about five cases are judiciously resolved.

A resource person, Mr Martin Mwosu, condemned litigations and said most of the widely used methods for resolving land disputes was litigation through the law courts and that the courts were filled with injunctions and counter injunctions that tend to delay proceedings. Mr Mwosu urged the chiefs to accept the new method, adding that it would help them to handle disputes. 14 Aug. 03