- Advertisement -

The Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, has expressed concern about the high number of unresolved chieftaincy disputes across the country, describing it as a menace that is hampering peace and development in communities.

Currently, he observed that there were more than 352 unresolved disputes that continue to linger in the courts and traditional house of chiefs, and prayed for their early resolution.

According to him, the Ministry was committed to deepen the engagement with the relevant stakeholders using Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms to settle the cases and disputes harmoniously to promote peace and development in the affected areas.

- advertisement -

Mr. Dzamesi expressed the concern at the inauguration of the Asuboa Traditional Council at Asuboa in the Asante-Akim South District.

The Asuboa Stool was elevated to paramountcy by the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, but the opening of the Council to enable it start exercising its official mandate was held back due to a number of issues.

The Minister, who was the guest of honour at the ceremony, reminded traditional leaders of adverse consequences of chieftaincy conflicts on communities and the nation, and charged the traditional councils to find ways of resolving all outstanding disputes.

To enhance the operations of the traditional councils, the Minister gave an assurance that more registrars were going to be recruited for the traditional councils for effective administration of the chieftaincy institution.

The President of the council, Baffour Kwaku Oforiwa II, who is also the Paramount Chief of Asuboa, thanked the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for the role he played in the process leading to the inauguration of the council and promised to ensure that the area remained peaceful for development.

Experts continue to advocate the use of Appropriate Dispute Resolution mechanisms to resolve chieftaincy and land disputes which have dragged for years.

Some successes have been achieved in that regard, as a number of chieftaincy disputes have been resolved through the use of ADR.

For instance in July 2009, ADR mechanisms were used to settle an 89 year old chieftaincy dispute between the people of Kpetoe and Afegame.

Also, in February 2004, an ADR Committee settled the Bortianor Chieftaincy Dispute out of court amicably.

Recently, Mr. Solomon Namlit Boar, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, during his vetting in Parliament, proposed the use of ADR mechanisms to address the decades-old conflict in Bimbilla.

He maintained that ADR has a way of making feuding factions commit to “peacemaking” instead of the “peacekeeping” process that has characterised previous attempts to resolve the conflict.

By: ADR Daily Newsdesk/adrdaily.com

 

Previous articleRetirement– How prepared are you?
Next articleChiefs of Some return to Adina Salt Peace Talks
ADR Daily is a specialized news portal with a focus on providing authentic news, information and research analysis on Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR), Human Resource Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations Management (IRM) in Ghana and beyond. This platform serves as an information resource base for the progress of the ADR, HRM and IRM industries, and seeks to promote professionalism in ADR practice by supporting a network of ADR professionals within and across nations and continents. ADR Daily keenly encourages the mass adoption of ADR mechanisms, particularly negotiation, mediation and arbitration for the resolution of disputes in all spheres, through the publication of industry news and information, as well as by deploying innovative awareness creation engagements.