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| Akatabai (The Royal Umbrella), one of the many symbols of chieftaincy in Ghana |
Chieftaincy
is a big thing in our part of the world; it is noble and sacred. To say we as
Africans and Ghanaians have a huge reverence for it is to state the obvious. The
average chief in Ghana commands great respect, the type that ordinarily would
not be accorded him in his private life.
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| Sword, another of the symbols associated with chieftancy |
Once
you are made a chief, your social class changes and you must be respected and
treated as such, irrespective of your age and previous social standing. That is
the level of prestige and dignity surrounding the institution.
Same
was the level of political power and authority chiefs wielded; it was that big
but the bitter truth is that the emergence of other forms of leadership and governance
like democracy came to limit their powers, confining them to a relatively
smaller area of authority mainly in the realm of traditional leadership.
That
notwithstanding, they still play some key roles in running our society as
guaranteed in our Constitution. Among several others roles, they are the guardians
of our rich and gorgeous tradition and culture which identify us as a people.
That aside, many are the chiefs who have gone the extra mile to redefine their customary
role and given it an even more attractive contemporary flavor. The more progressive
ones have moved beyond being ceremonial figures with occasional honour and
pleasure of palanquin ride and have turned change makers, impacting the very
lives of their people.
While
it is my wish, and of many other well-meaning Ghanaians that this pleasant
appeal about the institution is sustained, it is regrettable to say that our
actions and inactions are instead stripping the institution of this reverence
and giving it a bad name.
More
explicitly put, we are tainting the name of the institution and virtually dragging
it into the mud in a manner that should be a source of heartache to culture
enthusiasts like me. How many of us will be bold enough to contest the claim
that chieftaincy has almost become synonymous with dispute, antagonism and hostility?
There
are raging chieftaincy disputes all over the country that have turned our
traditional areas into hot conflict zones, and given our security agencies
tough time; I dare say we have even lost count of these because hardly does a
week pass without reports of aggression over the accession to one skin or
stool.
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| Smock , better known as Batakari used by chiefs in the northern part of the country |
We
all saw the Abudus and Andanis of Dagbon take on each other in a recurrent strife
with the resultant loss of lives and destruction of properties. The Ga state
has had to literally come to a standstill due to the rumpus over succession. The
Kumawu, Tuobodom, Kade, Nungua, Akyem Swedru, Yeji, Wa, Nadowli, Suhyen,
Abease, Senchi, Buipe, Nakpanduri, Brekum, and Akyem Kotoku areas all took turn
to give Ghanaians needless headache over one form of chieftaincy dispute or the
other. The violence that rocked Afloa, Bunkpurugu, Bimbilla etc. and attendant
fatalities left many with nagging questions if chieftaincy is doing us more
harm than good in its current form and practice.
Just
a couple of days ago, Yilo Krobo took over the media space with negative,
screaming and disgraceful headlines and for several days, the Akuse Police
Command had to keep watch over lives and properties. We are also reading about how
two chiefs have sprung up each claiming legitimacy to the Bolga skin and the
title of Bolga Naba as captured in the Monday May 11, 2015 edition of the Daily
Graphic newspaper. The list can go on and on and on from region to region and from
one traditional area to another. How much we spend each time to maintain law
and order in this conflict zones hardly come into the equation and we bother
very little to quantify it. How sad !!!
Our
courts are choking with these litigations that have long proven retrogressive and
needless and yet very little is being learnt from that, otherwise why would the
people of Yilo Krobo plunge their hitherto peaceful Sra community and the Somanya
township into this unnecessary tension
and draw dagger over the selection of a successor to the late paramount Chief,
Kpetekple Dautey Ologo despite the fact that useful lessons are all over the
street in neighbouring Manya Krobo Traditional Area whose people regrettably went
down a similar lane just some few year ago?
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| The traditional stool used by chiefs and queenmothers |
The
demise of the legendary Krobo King, Oklemekuku Azu Mate-Kole in 1990 set the
Manya Krobo State on a road of litigation such that for eight years, the stool
remained vacant; this came with its own challenges though the dispute was less violent.
But admittedly, that was a sad point in history that every well-meaning Krobo regretted,
not when seventeen (17) years after the installation of a successor, the
reigning Konor, the smoke of that dispute is still evidently hanging in the air
and suffocating us. Believe it or not, there are visible scars that are looking
us in the face to remind us of a painful past and to teach us that never again
must we toe that lane.
It
would be expected that close as our Yilo brothers are, and falling into the
same ethnic bracket with us, they would pick useful lessons and guard their
beard with water having seen ours burn with disastrous consequences. But here we are with a
worse form of the dispute shamefully and shockingly laced with poisonous
bitterness and aggression. Brothers have turned sworn enemies and what used to
be a calm neighborhood full of communal spirit and fellow feeling turned into a
security zone under armed Police guard and protection because the people (royal?)
whose right it is to rule the area disagree over who the next person is to ascend the throne.
The
Nuer and Akrobetto gates are at each other’s throat, claiming the right to
install a successor following the passing of the Konor, Nene Ologo, which
logically should close a chapter in the history of the reign of the Ologo gate.
While the Nuers are claiming lineage to the stool and insisting it is their
turn, the Akrobetos are wild with their argument that the Nuers are not an integral
part of the house and so cannot claim ancestry to the stool. What is more?
There is a new twist to their argument to the effect that the choice made by
the Nuers, who has since been installed, has no direct and proven paternal link
to the stool.
The
truth is and can only be one. Which of these two gates is being greedy? Are the
Nuers usurping a role and position that is not theirs and thus pointlessly visiting
anarchy on the people of Yilo Krobo or the Akrobetos are dishonorably and jealously
denying the former what is rightfully theirs?
The
truth should long have been established (if already not known) and strictly
gone by, under the direction of the state Elders and/or the Traditional Council
(made of the Divisional Chiefs, Asafoatseme, Queenmothers and other such
relevant players), but what do we see, a divided house with entrenched
positions influenced partly by fleeting self-interest. Why won’t we give the
noble institution a bad name and drag it into the gutters with
this retrogressive attitude?
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| Ablade, the royal sandals |
Judging
from precedents across the country, this divide, this enmity and this broken
cord will continue to live with these families and the Yilo state for a long
time to come and may even be inherited by upcoming generations.
Isn’t
it sad that the living cannot even find a solution to their problems (simple
disagreement) and would want to visit their thoughtlessness on the dead who
should be taking their deserved rest within the confines of their narrow beds? If
we can’t be tolerant and thoughtful enough to sit at the table as kith and kin
to resolve our disagreement, why should we go hounding the dead (Nene Ologo)
from his sleep far away in the land of our ancestors? If the rumoured exhumation
of the remains of the late paramount chief was a cooked story to muddy the
waters, then that’s most unfortunate but if indeed it’s true that the tomb was
desecrated and the remains “stolen”, then that is even worst and an abomination
that should not be taken lightly.
Seriously,
we cannot continue moving in this direction and the earlier this cancerous cell
in our society is attended to with all the available prescriptions, the better
for us as a people. That is why I find commendable ongoing efforts by the Ministry
of Chieftaincy and Culture to fashion out the modalities for the drafting and
implementation of succession plan for the various stools and skins. It’s a worthy
course and must be embraced by all stakeholders to make it a reality soonest.
Our religious
groups like the Christian Council and Local Council of Churches and also the
local churches must step out of their traditional role of preaching pure gospel
and actively lead the way in negotiations and the use of other alternative
dispute resolution methods in situations like this. Yes, the court is there for
litigation and we each have the right to initiate any action we deem fit but
the road must not always lead there not when it has proven less effective in ensuring
lasting peace.
Let's
also have prominent sons of the areas rising to the occasion and using their
respected position and influence to drive dialogue. For now I pray our Yilo
Krobo brothers will have a rethink and revert to a less militant approach to
resolving the impasse, at least for the sake of the state. Let the well-meaning
Krobo and/or discerning reader make meaning of this piece.
The writer is a journalist and a culture
enthusiast. He can be contacted by email via klonobi2007@gmail.com
As a
budding rapper with a never-dying thirst to spring from behind the scene onto
the big stage against all odds, FIT-K’s eyes are fixed on celebrated Ghanaian artistes
such as Obrafuor (His all-time role model)
whose “Pae Mu ka” album further tickled his (FIT-K’s) artistic nerves
and rejuvenated his musical hormones to join the creative industry. 
