Criticism of pick-up donation baseless - National House of Chiefs

The National House of Chiefs has described as unfortunate and baseless the public criticism of pick-up vehicles donated to the regional and national houses of chiefs by President John Dramani Mahama.

It said as a creature of statute, the National House of Chiefs needed to be resourced by the state/government, just like any state/government institution, agency or department.

“It is, therefore, unfortunate when, without any basis, it is taken for granted that it is only for political reasons that such assistance is given to the houses of chiefs. The same issue does not arise when other institutions of state are resourced by the government,” it said in a statement signed by its President, Wulugu Naba Naa Prof. John S. Nabila.

“The cars are not for the individual chiefs. They are for the houses of chiefs as a government (state) institution,” it emphasised.

Background

Recently, President Mahama, on behalf of the government, donated a number of pick-ups to the Regional and National houses of chiefs during a meeting with the chiefs.

But the donation received sharp criticism from some members of the public, who contended that the current state of the economy did not make such a gesture prudent. 

Explanation

The statement said it was very unfortunate that the critics did not know that the institutions were creatures of statute and, therefore, needed to be resourced by the government/state.

It cited the 1992 Constitution and the Chieftaincy Act, 2008 (Act 1959) which provided for the creation of the National House of Chiefs.

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It said the National House of Chiefs was composed of 50 members and the combined membership of the regional houses of chiefs was more than 250, adding, “It is preposterous to conclude that one pick-up is given to over 300 chiefs.”

“The National House of Chiefs want to state categorically that it is the responsibility of the government (state) to resource the houses of chiefs, as any other MDA, and that is exactly what the President did during his recent meeting with chiefs. It is very unfortunate that people have twisted the position of the law to suit their own limited interest,” the statement added.