Chieftancy Disputes: Blame Rich City Dwellers

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah. December 19, 2007 (spread lead)
THE Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Samson Kwaku Boafo, has blamed chieftaincy disputes on some rich city dwellers who turn themselves into kingmakers overnight and foment trouble in the communities.
He said among those trouble makers were some sub-chiefs, who, because they are wealthy, behaved as if they had more authority than paramount chiefs.
At his turn at the Meet-the-Press series organised by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Accra yesterday, Mr Boafo touched on the importance of the chieftaincy institution and said it should be encouraged to play its role for the benefit of the society.
The Minister pointed out that traditional leaders served as the medium through whom the colonial government conducted their administrative functions within the communities and said it was, therefore, the intention of the ministry to revive those positive qualities within the traditional institutions in the present democratic dispensation to effectively partner the government to enhance good governance.
He stated that in order to minimise conflicts in the area of customary law and land inheritance, the National House of Chiefs, in collaboration with the Law Reform Commission and the German Development Co-operation (GTZ) had launched a project to ascertain and codify customary law relating to family and land issues.
In that direction, he said that the ministry had recently organised seminars for some selected traditional rulers in the northern and southern zones on a pilot basis, adding that the project would continue next year to cover 20 traditional areas in all the 10 regions.
Mr Boafo also talked about efforts being made by the ministry to resolve some of the conflicts in the communities and said in addition to the role being played by the Houses of Chiefs in resolving conflicts, people in disputes were being encourage to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to settle cases out of court.
To embark on capacity building for traditional authorities and their support staff, as well as staff of the ministry, he said there were plans to establish a Royal College in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment.
On culture, the Minister said the month of November every year had been set aside as Culture Awareness Month and as a reference point for reviving the rich Ghanaian culture “that is fast being eroded by the influx of foreign cultures”.
He also touched on plans to further conduct research into archaeological and historical sites in the country to determine their viability for wealth creation and also collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations to explore the tourism potential of these sites.
He talked about the promotion of made in Ghana products through exhibitions and cultural festivals, and facilitation of formation of drama clubs in second cycle schools, among other activities, and added that his ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, intended to vigorously promote domestic tourism to encourage Ghanaians to appreciate and preserve their national heritage and create wealth in the communities.
On international relations, Mr Boafo pointed out that there had been development of excellent relations with all the foreign missions in Ghana, the United Nations (UN) agencies in Ghana, especially the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO), the KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, the British Museum and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
He hinted that there were plans to organise an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) cultural carnival in Accra and said ministers of the member countries were currently working on the programme.
On her part, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mrs Oboshie-Sai Cofie, who was the chairperson for the programme, used the occasion to appeal to Ghanaians to give out Christmas gifts comprising made in Ghana products beginning from this year, adding that “we need to promote our own products”.