Story:   NANA KONADU AGYEMAN, Koforidua

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, has appealed to kingmakers in the region to ensure that only qualified people are enstooled to avert chieftaincy disputes.

He also urged them to bring to book those who paraded themselves as enstoolment and destoolment contractors whose activities, he said, often resulted in lawlessness.

Addressing the End-of-Year meeting of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs in Koforidua, Mr. Asiedu stated, “it is my humble petition that this House brings to book some of your subjects who go out of their way to enstool pretenders to the stool”.

“I respectfully implore you to also endeavour to discourage the practice of multiple sale of lands by your subjects to prevent the pain and agony many land purchasers have to go through”, he added.

According to the Minister, the chieftaincy institution played a pivotal role in the government’s efforts to promote grassroots participants in governance, making the government dependent on traditional authorities for the successful implementation of good governance.

He, however, indicated that activities of some chiefs had dragged the revered image of chieftaincy institution into disrepute.

“The fact that the government respects the institution of chieftaincy is incontrovertible, however, when there are indications that certain activities of some chiefs will lead to violence, the security agencies will have to intervene to obviate such outcome”, he reminded the chiefs.

To promote the country’s culture, Mr. Asiedu asked the chiefs to help do away with cultural practices that were inimical to the healthy growth of society.

He expressed the preparedness of the Regional Co-ordinating Council to collaborate with the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture to help address the numerous challenges facing the House, some of which were poor allowances paid to its members, inadequate infrastructure and unwillingness of legal practitioners to take up appointment with the House due to poor remuneration.

The President of the House, Nene Narh Dawutey Logo VI, said chiefs in the region would continue to advise politicians to conduct peaceful campaigns to ensure incident-free elections next year.

Nene Dawutey Ologo, who is also the Konor of Yilo Krobo, urged politicians to avoid inflammatory language and insults as well as personal attacks during their campaigns.

The President of the House, who asked his colleagues to ensure the speedy disposal of cases pending before them to ensure justice, appealed to the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture to help address the poor remuneration of members of the House.