Mahama urged to address chieftaincy disputes

Executive members of National Youth for Peace (NYfP) have urged government to take proactive steps to address the numerous chieftaincy disputes in the country.

According to the group, there are three main factors that can bring war into a country.

NYfP made the call in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Eric Bafoe, and issued yesterday in Accra.

The three factors, according to NYfP, were land acquisition, chieftaincy disputes and politics.

Chieftaincy disputes, for instance, the NYfP noted, have become a source of worry to the country as “it has affected all the ten (10) regional capitals.”

The situation, the statement pointed out, has resulted in the dwindling economic fortunes in the regions thereby making the youth in these regions jobless.

The statement continued that such worrying situation has the tendency to threaten the security of the country.

“It is obvious that if the youth have nothing meaningful to do with their lives they will definitely resort to all forms of social vices to make ends meet and the implication of this is very disastrous,” the group intimated.

It bemoaned the way the youth get themselves involved sometimes in chieftaincy affairs and advised them against allowing their emotions to override the general interest of their communities.

The statement further said the youth must see themselves as tools for development rather than destruction.

It went on to add that “it is incumbent on the king makers in the various traditional councils in the country to be transparent when it comes to enstooling chiefs.

Against this backdrop, the group charged king makers to be firm in their decisions and resist any attempt(s) by self-seekers who would want to influence their judgements.

According to the group, it was the responsibility of the king makers to protect the sanctity of their culture and tradition.

The group also expressed disquiet about how sometimes some king makers allow influential people in society to buy them with gifts just to have their way through.

“This is why NYfP is encouraging our trustworthy traditional kingmakers to resist with all their strength and might to preserve the good name of the chieftaincy institution,” the statement advised.

“We also urge government to set up a special court for chieftaincy and land disputes to speed up legal processes so as to avoid protracted community disputes as there are several cases of chieftaincy and land litigations in our various courts,” the statement added.