The surge in chieftaincy disputes and ethnic conflicts over the years in the Upper East Region can not be overlooked.
The situation, many experts say, is often due to the lack of knowledge on the part of some chiefs and traditional leaders to either pass fair judgement or resolve pockets disputes among community members.
Given that, some chiefs in the Upper East Region have suggested that institutions such as the National Commission for Civic Education and the National Peace Council ought to begin organising educational and empowerment initiatives for them.
According to them, chiefs just like ordinary people in society need to be educated and empowered both practically and structurally on how to handle and curtail pockets of disputes in their various traditional areas.
The chief of Kotinbaatig in the Sakoti Traditional Area, Naab Bileehsong Lagwonht Namoog, Kotintaabig made the call on behalf of his colleagues chiefs at a peace-building forum organised by A1 Radio in collaboration with the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organization.
He noted that “some of the pocket conflicts are usually coming from misjudgment given by opinion leaders and in the end, it will result in fights. This is often a result of the opinion leader not having the wisdom to pass fair judgement. The peace council and NCCE ought to begin sensitising chiefs on how to go about their rules and regulations.”
“We should not assume that, so far as he is a chief, he knows everything. A big no, we don’t know everything, and with this call, if these two entities will work on it, and empower us educationally it will go a long way to reduce these pocket conflicts in the region,” he added.
He called on chiefs to understand and abide by their traditional boundaries to avoid potential chieftaincy conflicts.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
