The Ghana Leadership Union (GLU) has condemned in no uncertain terms the unwarranted attack on a professional police officer by the youth and Paramount Chief of the Dagbon traditional area, Yaa Naa Abukari Mahama, as reported in the media.
“Such attitudes of our paramount chiefs and traditional leaders on professional police officers and other appointed civil servants can only be described as simply uncalled for, unnecessary exertion of unlawful authority, and utterly ridiculous. They can be considered by others as barbaric and very uncivilized” the group said in a press release signed by its president Dr. Kwaku A. Danso.
The group reminded the Paramount Chief of Dagbon traditional Area not forget the sacrifices tax payers of this country have made to restore peace to Yendi adding that violence is not the only way to solve issues. According to GLU, the Paramount Chief has no mandate or power to either determine who lives in Yendi or order any public officer to leave the Yendi municipality.
The National Leadership Union noted that it has observed with dismay that from nowhere some paramount chiefs of rural communities have “assumed some unnecessary powers” in this country and these actions have led to wars in some nations, and “Ghana definitely does not want to be involved in such barbaric behaviour”.
Sadly, it is these tendencies of our people that has resulted in the lack of any serious investment in some parts of the country including Yendi. As such these attitudes by the Chiefs, if not spoken against or checked, will not only jeopardize the development of our country but it will threaten the peace we are enjoying”, GLU cautioned.
According to the release, members of GLU scattered around the world in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia are often the ones who have to “defend some of such attitudes that make others look down upon our people”.
GLU is of the view that these power-show down attitudes started from the Paramount Chief of Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region, then the Asogli area in the Volta region, the Dormaa Traditional Area in the Bono Region, the Kwahu area in the Eastern Region, and now Yendi in the Northern region.
Sadly, these Chiefs are presiding over rural communities with less that 200,000 population most of whom live in abject poverty with poor human development indices, poor infrastructure and very miserable lives for the youth in these rural traditional areas” the group lamented.
GLU said the Chiefs have not been able to attract major capital investment, create jobs, and help their people. “If there is anything that should be of concern to these Chiefs, it should be investment in both human and material capital that will help in reducing the torrential crisis of poverty and underdevelopment in these rural traditional areas. Some of these areas have no clean pipe born water, no sewage systems, and humans engaging in open defecation that we all should be ashamed of”, GLU noted.
We will like to state unequivocally that, this seemingly power-grabbing attitude of our paramount chiefs is illegal, unconstitutional, and must stop now! Chiefs are not above the laws of Ghana!
The people of Ghana in their own rights voted on a constitution that did not give our old Chiefs powers beyond control over some lands. We surely did not authorise them to make laws and be the judges and jury at the same time as in the olden days. Even in the exercise of control over lands our Chiefs have set a really bad example in failing to manage and modernise land data and registration. Litigation, pomp and pageantry seem to be the one reputation Ghanaian Chiefs are internationally known for. The UN statistics lists Ghana as taking an average of 11-13 years to resolve land transaction issues”.
GLU noted that Ghanaians expect Chiefs to take leadership role in modernising their towns and districts with elected Town Councils and empowering local development under laws. This includes land data registry, street addressing and house numbering systems, and births and death registry for the towns. Chiefs should support and join the election of Town Councils and help manage their own areas instead of fighting for power.
The group also appealed to the Chiefs in Ghana to refrain from influencing the withdraw of criminal cases before police or determining who comes or leaves in any part of the country.
GLU is of the strongest of opinion that this backward attitude of our chiefs must stop now! There is now law against prosecution of civil or criminal laws! We are by this press statement calling on the Inspector General of Police, Police Council and Government, as a matter of urgency, to quickly send a delegation to resolve this dispute.
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