CHIEFS URGED TO JEALOUSLY GUARD CHIEFTAINCY ACT (PAGE 35, DEC 7)

A legal practitioner, Mr Peter K. O. Mensah, has urged traditional rulers to jealously guard and uphold the new Chieftaincy Act 759, since it places the institution of chieftaincy on a more dignified status devoid of government interference.
“Chiefs must regard the new Act very well because it brings back the dignity associated with the chieftaincy institution. With the new Act chiefs must now stand firm, since the law is supporting you. When you are able to do that the chieftaincy institution would stand the test of time,” he stressed.
Mr Mensah said this when he presented a paper on the topic: “The tenets of the law” at a two-day workshop for members of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa.
The workshop was organised by the National House of Chiefs with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
Mr Mensah said the chieftaincy institution, which had existed even before colonisation, was very crucial for the country and advised chiefs to stand firm against any form of subterfuge.
Commenting on the involvement of chiefs in mainstream politics, Mr Mensah, who is also the counsel for the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, stated that the institution was so sacred that considering the manner in which politics was practised in the country no revered chief could withstand it.
“Chieftaincy is an institution which we will enjoy respecting,” he said, adding that there was the need for the respective chieftaincy institutions such as the regional and national houses of chiefs to come out with a code of ethics for chiefs in order to streamline their activities.
He also urged chiefs to put in place strict mechanisms to do away with frivolous litigation within the institution.
The Senior Programme Manager of KAS, Mr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said the deliberations would pave the way for chiefs to assess the tenets of the new chieftaincy Act and respond to them appropriately.
Mr Owusu-Mensah also stressed the need for a documented code of ethics for chiefs to regulate their actions.
“As a national body which is duly recognised by the 1992 Constitution, it is time a code of ethics with its appropriate sanctions was developed to guide the conduct and the behaviour of chiefs across the country, irrespective of the traditional area one comes from,” he emphasised.