PRESS BRIEFING BY GA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL

MEMBERS OF THE PRESS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
On Friday, the 10th of June, the Stool House of the Ga Mantse King Tackie Tawiah III, was broken into by bandits and thugs, waving offensive weapons such as AK 47 rifles, and other dangerous weapons such as machetes, clubs, etc. The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III, restrained the youth from resisting this attack. Instead, because of his faith in law and order, he relied on the police to protect the Ga State property. But alas, the police failed to respond to the invitation to stop the breaking and thereby, prevent the illegality. A written complaint was made at the Regional Command of the Ghana Police, at Accra Central the next day, Saturday the 11th of June, 2011. Again the police failed to follow up on the complaint and to investigate and identify the culprits. Two days later on Monday 13th June 2011, in the early hours of the morning, some more thugs repeated a similar attack on the Ga Mantse's Palace at North Kaneshie, but all frantic efforts to get the police and other security agencies to provide protection were totally ignored. In a situation where the Council, a legal body of governance cannot rely on the police to protect it, then where else must it turn?

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It must be made known to the government, given the expression of the President of the National House of Chiefs to the public as a whole that:

i the Ga Mantse Palace serves as a unit office of the Ministry of

Chieftancy and Culture.
ii it is the premise for meetings of the Ga Traditional Council,

iii it is the location of the Judicial Committee for the adjudication of

cases,
iv it is a meeting place for interaction between Sub-chiefs and their

divisional heads, and
v it is an important place for receiving both domestic and international guests to the Ga State.

The seizure of the palace and its continued occupancy by a lawless group of people, with the police refusing to undertake their responsibility, creates a sense if indifference, while it does not reflect any semblance of law and order.

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It is our wish to comment further that, recognition of chiefs in the Ga State, begins at the Ga Traditional Council and not with the media. All processes of installment are examined by relevant committees to ensure that, legitimate means are used in the selection, examination and installation of all chiefs. Above all else, it is the duty of the Council to ensure, that its members and other chiefs in the Ga State become occupants of VACANT STOOLS. This should explain why individuals who hold themselves as chiefs outside our processes are NOT inducted into the Council. In the present instance, none of the individuals claiming to be installing a “Ga Mantse” has any clean, clear credential.

It is now known, that the National House of Chiefs has condemned the recent enstoolment of a claimant to the Ga Stool, describing it as illegal. According to the House, the enstoolment of another “Ga Mantse” undermines a legal process, currently before the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.

The Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa has been sitting on the case, as it attempts to resolve the chieftaincy conflict in the Ga State. The National House of Chiefs says the latest moves by so called Kingmakers to install a new “Ga Mantse”, will only worsen the situation.

Members of the House made this public after a two-day meeting in Kumasi, to discuss issues relating to the Chieftaincy Institution in the Ga State in particular and in Ghana in General.

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The President of the National House of Chiefs, Wulugu Naba Pusansoa Naa Professor John Nabila said, the House was not happy with what is going on, and was shocked that, a case pending before the judicial committee was not respected.

“This House is definitely unhappy about what is going on. It is really scared, that a case pending before a Judicial Committee which has the status of a high court, was ignored. We have procedures and we must all respect the law, especially if we want to be chiefs.”

“Chiefs must be custodians of the law just as we are the custodians of the land and we must work hand in hand with law enforcement agencies and not against the law.”

There was an assortment of individuals with no credible standing whatsoever managing the whole illegal process that was paraded as an installation, attended by a host of well armed lawless individuals who inflicted wounds on some innocent women and children in the Abola area on the occasion.

It should be significant to all who followed the events of the so-called swearing in that followed, that these dubious individuals and politicians were the only ones present. No member of the Ga Traditional Council was present. This should give expression of the contempt with which the Ga Traditional Council perceived the charade.

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The Ga Traditional Council adheres to the decision by the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs in 2008 that;

1. King Tackie Tawiah III is the Ga Mantse and President of the Ga Traditional Council.

2. He cannot be restrained from performing his duties as Ga Mantse, until the final determination of the cases under adjudication.

The Ga Traditional Council therefore invites all law abiding Ga People and Ghanaians to respect this decision.

i. The Council wishes to express its disappointment at the failure of some members of government to abide by the oft- repeated promise by the President of the Republic to strengthen and deepen democracy and the Rule of Law in this country.

ii. It also respectfully invites the President to take urgent steps to ensure, that his officials respect the Rule of Law by protecting every individual who comes under attack from any individual or group of people, and allow the legal processes to be followed, as per his preferred posture in Ghanaian governance and politics.

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When cases at the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa are determined, and the ruling of the recognition they have given in 2008 is modified or reversed, the Council would take appropriate action in consonance.

Accra, 5th July, 2011.