THERE should be transparency in the succession plan for stools and skins in all traditional areas so that no royal lineage is sidelined, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr. S. K. Boafo, has suggested.

He said chieftaincy disputes persisted because the chart of succession to some stools and skins was not adhered to.

Mr. Boafo made this observation when he addressed the chiefs and people of Ahanta here on Monday at their annual Kundum festival.

The event also marked the 40^th anniversary of Otumfuo Baidoo Bonsoe XV, Omahene of Ahanta Traditional Area.

Mr. Boafo said that the Ministry was doing all it could to address the persistent chieftaincy disputes.

“Chieftaincy disputes impede progress. Let us ensure that usurpers are not encouraged to enrich themselves and create problems for the people in the traditional areas,” he said.

Chieftaincy, he said was the traditional nerve centre of the country’s socio-cultural identity and should be jealously guarded at all times. “Nobody should dare make any mockery of this situation,” Mr. Boafo told the gathering.

Festivals, he said, are occasions for celebrations by families, groups and communities which are linked to the physical as well as the spiritual sides of a district culture.

“Let us all in one accord give praise to the Almighty and our ancestors through whose dedication and hard work we have had such an opportunity to gather here as one people,” the minister said.

He concluded: “Today, the huge attendance at this colorful Kundum festival is a clear testimony that the people of Ahanta both far and near, have traveled home to identify with their roots”.

The Western Regional Minister, A. E. Amoah advised chiefs in the Ahanta area to be cautious about people to whom they sell their lands.

“Let’s have a land bank so that with the oil news all of us can benefit,” he said.

The Ghanaian Times     -           Wednesday, September 19, 2007         Page: 32