Chieftaincy Ministry develops legislative instruments to govern succession to stools and skins

The Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs has drafted legislative instruments (LIs) to govern the lines of succession to stools and skins of 11 traditional areas in the country.

The draft LIs spell out the procedure for installing a chief, the kingmakers, those who are qualified in the families and the order of rotation (where there two or three gates).

The sector Minister, Dr Henry Seidu Daanaa, on Wednesday led a delegation from the ministry and representatives of the traditional areas to present the draft LIs to the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation of Parliament.

In an interview with journalists, Dr Daanaa said the LIs were to prevent chieftaincy succession conflicts which sometimes led to loss of lives and property in the country.

He said with the LIs, when stools were vacant, people would not fight over them.

"Once you have this kind of LI, it becomes criminal to contest for a stool when it is not your turn," he said.

Procedure

Dr Daanaa said a research team of the ministry did the codification of the lines of succession in areas where there were no conflicts.

After the codification, the ministry sought the  advice of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

“So the ministry met the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation of Parliament today to read out the LIs in the presence of the 11 affected paramount chiefs before they were laid in Parliament for approval,” he stated

The 11 affected traditional areas whose representatives attended the meeting were Twifo Hemang, Breman Asikuma, both in the Central Region; Lambussie and Wechiau in the Upper West Region; Jomoro in the Western Region, Likpe in the Volta Region, Paga and Kayoro in the Upper East Region; Bassa and Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region and Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region.

The President of the National House of Chiefs, Wulugu Naba, Pugansoa Naa Professor John S. Nabila, said the LIs would go a long in dealing with the issue of succession to stools and skins.

He said since the country did not have written laws on succession, the people depended on folklore and oral tradition, which could change.

Pugansoa Naa Professor Nabila said with the LIs, "there is no way anybody can go with his money to buy the chieftaincy because there are laid down laws".