‘Chieftaincy dispute a dent on traditional authority’

The Apinto Hene of Wassa Fiase Traditional area in the Wassa West district Nana Kwabina Angu II on Tuesday said the image and power of the traditional authority has been dented by the numerous chieftaincy disputes that has plague the institution and called for immediate remedial action.

"The dignity, respect and integrity of the chieftaincy institution is under serious threat from within and without and stands the risk of losing its influence if the necessary mechanism are not employed to save it," Nana Angu stated.

Nana Angu who is the chief of Awudua in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said misinformation, suspicions, lack of clear order of succession, subverting of rules, infiltration of outside forces, including political parties on the mode of ascension unto the throne have all contributed to the numerous chieftaincy disputes.

He appealed to the both the regional and national houses of chiefs to immediately address the issues and set out mandate for chiefs in the modern geo-political environment.

“We can longer be ascribed as warriors based on the conquering of other states, tribal wars are over, but we can be useful modern warriors if we are able to mobilize our people to conquer poverty.

“We must mobilize our people for social-economic development, we must attract investors into our traditional areas, we must market our potentials and natural resources, we must stand against bad governance, and whilst supporting state institutions to maintain the unity of the nation,” Nana Angu noted.

Nana Angu noted that traditional authority can still play very crucial role for the development and sustainability of our democracy and urged non-governmental and civil society organizations to support and promote the dignity of the institution.

He reiterated the call for peace and adherence to due process of law to resolve conflicts instead of resorting to violence.

He said the dispute had stifled the development of many traditional areas where there is protracted chieftaincy dispute, stressing: "the youth should be agent for development not destruction".

The President of the Apinto Traditional area noted that nowadays, Ghanaian youth face many problems in their developmental stages into adulthood than ever before.

“These problems range from attraction to be used as tools for political violence, armed robbery, drug addiction, and alcohol abuse to lack of employment.

“And they affect the quality of life of our youth, making it extremely difficult for them to reach their full potentials,” he said.

He also revealed that new economic structure has made primary production such as agriculture and semi-processing industries less attractive; hence most of the youth have migrated from the rural areas into towns and cities in search of service sector jobs, which are not enough to go around.

“Rural-urban migration has its own sociological problems, including the breakdown of the traditional kinship structure that historically has been providing nurturance and mentorship for young people to become socially, emotionally, and physically competent members of our society,” he said.

Nana Angu suggested that the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Education should collaborate with chiefs to develop a vacation curriculum for student to enable them travel across the country to learn about other regions, cultures and, tribes during holidays.

He said such a programme will help their social integration as well as enhance their understanding of our tribes. This would not only foster healthy cultural understanding, but also increase ethnic tolerance and peaceful interaction between the various ethnic groups.