President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has made a passionate appeal to all chieftaincy establishments in the country to as a matter of priority, take steps to emulate the recent example of the Kwahu traditional authority by codifying their royal lineages in order to prevent future chieftaincy succession disputes in their various jurisdictions.
The better part of security expenditure in Ghana according to President Akufo-Addo, is spent to prevent chieftaincy disputes in country from escalating into community fights and instability.
Whatever can be done to arrest the situation the President says, must be encouraged, and that includes the example of the “Kwahu State’s” vivid account of successions to the various stools in the country of which the National House of Chiefs, Centre for National Culture and the Bureau of Ghana Languages made inputs.
The President made the call when he addressed the president of the Ahafo regional house of chiefs, Nana Ansah Adu Baah II, and his delegation at the Jubilee House today 11 May 2022, during a courtesy call on him.
“Chieftaincy disputes has become a major issue of concern in Ghana. Government has in recent time, spent huge sums of money to main peace in part of the country where there are disputes to ensure that fights do not break out” President Akufo-Addo said.
The people of Kwahu have launched an initiative called “Kwahu State Book” which is setting out the genealogy of all the royal families and all the stools in the Kwahu state so that in the future should some controversy arise over the kingship of any of the place in the Kwahu area, the details of the book will settle all matters arising to prevent unnecessary claims”.
“I think this codification of royal lineage by the “Kwahu State” is an initiative that all regions in Ghana must emulate so that in the likely event of chieftaincy vacancies as a result of death in particular, succession issues can be dealt with amicably” the President added.
Launch of KSB
President Akufo-Addo on Saturday [April 16, 2022] launched the 2000-page book entitled Kwahu State Book. The compilation of the book was based on the findings of the Ghana State Book Project which gives vivid account of successions to the various stools in the country.
At the 16 April durbar to officially launch the new book at Mpraeso, President Akufo-Addo said most of Ghana’s security challenges were due to chieftaincy disputes and mentioned some of such challenges as the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute.
He explained at the durbar that the book would ensure that only rightful royals would be made chiefs and therefore urged various factions to take note and make good use of the book.
“Let’s do away with chieftaincy related disputes and misunderstanding among each other and forge ahead in unity to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Kwahu Traditional Area”, the President said at the launch on 16 April.
Urgent A/R concerns
Nana Ansah Adu Baah II, in his presentation on behalf of his delegation, noted that the Ahafo Region, prides itself as the third stronghold of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the country’s body politic.
To this end, Nana Ansah Adu Baah II, called on the President to take steps to fix the road network challenges of the region.
He indicated that his subjects in the Ahafo traditional area are dissatisfied with the current state of roads in the region.
Road projects
President Akufo-Addo in his response, assured the Ahafo chief of his government’s commitment to fix as many roads as possible not only in the Ahafo Region, but throughout the country.
Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, added that after engaging the Minister for Roads and Highways while the meeting was underway, he is reliably informed that currently, there are about 58 ongoing road projects in the Ahafo Region alone and 38 are active and ongoing.
He added that, the projects amount to about 482km of roads and that remaining 20 which are currently stalled must be reactivated.
Mr Bediatuo Asante, indicated that the Minister for Roads and Highways is currently not in the jurisdiction but he has assured him that upon his return, he will make it a point to visit the region and to ensure that the delayed projects are reactivated.
