President John Dramani Mahama has called on Regional Houses of Chiefs across the country to accelerate the adjudication of chieftaincy disputes, warning that development could not be carried out in communities gripped by insecurity arising from stool conflicts.
The President made the appeal on Monday while receiving a courtesy call from the Bono Regional House of Chiefs at the Jubilee House, using the occasion to outline both his administration’s position on chieftaincy matters and the development investments being made across traditional areas.
President Mahama said chieftaincy disputes had become more frequent because the pool of eligible royals had grown over generations, creating competition for stools where kingmakers once struggled to find willing candidates.
“In the past, kingmakers would actively search for royals to ascend to the stool. People would run away, and kingmakers would come to the city, arrest them, pour powder on them, bundle them into taxis, and essentially kidnap them to install them as chiefs. That era has passed,” he said.
He said the situation had reversed entirely, with royals now competing and fighting for stools, generating disputes that were holding back progress in many traditional areas.
President Mahama reminded the chiefs that the 1992 Constitution expressly prohibited government interference in chieftaincy matters, saying the administration’s hands were tied except where disputes escalated into threats to law and order.
In such cases, he said, government’s role was limited to deploying the police to restore calm, after which the chieftaincy institution itself, through its Judicial Committees, was responsible for investigating the matter and determining the rightful occupant of the stool.
“After we have restored order, it is the institution of chieftaincy itself, through its Judicial Committees, that must investigate the matter and make recommendations on the proper occupant of a stool,” he said.
The President said government remained committed to supporting the Houses of Chiefs with resources to speed up the resolution of outstanding cases, expressing hope that faster adjudication would free traditional areas to concentrate on development.
“The government will continue to support you and provide resources so that we can speed up the adjudication of chieftaincy matters and resolve them efficiently,” President Mahama added.
He told the Bono Regional House of Chiefs that the government’s development agenda, anchored on the Big Push infrastructure programme, was already delivering roads, hospitals, schools, markets and agricultural investments across the region, but that the full benefit of those investments could only be felt in communities at peace with themselves.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
