Ghana: Pres Mahama Expresses Worry Over Worsening Chieftaincy Disputes

15 January 2025

President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the growing number of chieftaincy disputes across the country, stressing that the situation has become a major national security threat.

He said the situation where rival chiefs emerged upon the demise of a chief was worrying and must be addressed.

"[In] all the security briefings I got after December 7, the chieftaincy disputes have become a major issue. Anytime a chief passes away and a chief is selected, invariably two or three rival chiefs suddenly appear," the President bemoaned.

He expressed this reservation at a meeting with the Standing Committee of the National House of Chiefs in Accra yesterday.

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The President said though the Government, by the design of the 1992 Constitution, has no role in chieftaincy matters, it is mandated to maintain law and order; a reason the government must work closely at the chieftaincy institution to find lasting solutions to the disputes.

He said despite proposals for the codification of the lineage of succession across paramountcies, the situation did not appear to be under control.

"It looks like the issue of chieftaincy dispute is becoming worse by the day even after the proposed codification of the lines of succession," he observed.

In this regard, the President said when the constitutional review validation conference was convened, the chiefs would be called upon to bring their proposals for consideration.

The need for a constitutional review, he said, was critical to address lacunas that had been identified in the 1992 constitution to meet the current trends.

He assured the House that his government would work closely with traditional authorities across the country in the protection of the environment.

Later yesterday, President Mahama observed in a meeting with stakeholders in the energy sector that the mismanagement of the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) by the erstwhile government was the cause of the rising debt in the sector.

According to him, the Act, which was passed in 2015 with a five-year sunset clause, was intended to clear the legacy debt in the sector.

"ESLA was not used for its intended purpose. Revenues of ESLA were mismanaged. What should have gone to the payment of a lot of the debts that have accumulated was used for other purposes, so we have the situation we have today," he stated.

That notwithstanding, the President said his government was committed to fixing the sector, which is burdened with US$2.5 billion debt.

Doing this, he said, would include a holistic approach right from the upstream to the downstream sector, including the privatisation of the distribution sector to ensure efficiency.

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