Apinto stool’s push for paramountcy is still on course –Gyasehene

The Gyasehene of the Apinto Divisional Stool under Wassa Fiase paramountcy, Nana Dr. Adarkwa Bediako III, has told The Chronicle in an interview that their push for a separate paramountcy has not been defeated, as published by the paper two weeks ago.

According to him, his outfit has not received any official communication from the National House of Chiefs that the application it filed pushing for a separate paramountcy has been thrown out.

“As far as we are concerned, the application is still pending before the NHC and we are waiting to push our case as to why Apinto Stool need a separate paramountcy out of Wassa Fiase,” he said.

The Chronicle had published that the hopes and aspirations of the chiefs and people of Apinto to push for a separate paramountcy has been dashed. This was as a result of a court action filed by one Kwadu Kyerefo, who is the acting president of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council, challenging the status of Apinto as a Divisional stool to push for a separate paramountcy.

Kwadu Kyerfo, who is one of the Divisonal chiefs in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council (WFTA) found problem with the Apinto stool application and consequently dragged the stool to court, praying for an order to prohibit the Regional House of Chiefs from sitting on the application.

In an affidavit accompanying the suit, the plaintiff prayed the court to strike out the Apinto application. This is because Apinto was neither a natural nor artificial person.

Applicant argued that per the chieftaincy Act 759, the Apinto Stool was not a recognised entity because it had not been properly registered in the register of National House of Chiefs.

He added that, for a party to be properly before a court, it must be either organic or artificial, or a body created by a statute.

The court, after listening to the argument by both counsels for the parties, ruled that from the records, it was clear that it is not difficult to find that, the Apinto Stool had not been properly registered under the statute.

Based on this ruling, it was assumed that the Apinto Stool pushing for a separate paramountcy has been thrown out.

This is what compelled the Gyasehene of the Apinto Stool, Nana Dr. Adarkwa Bediako, who is a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to come out and set the records straight.

Gyasehene Bediako told The Chronicle in a telephone interview that the ruling of the court, concerning the Certiorari application, filed by Kwadu Kyerfo, has nothing to do with the Stool's push for paramountcy.

According to him, the court ruling has no effect on the Stool's push for a separate paramountcy. He explained that it was the reason Kwadu Kyerfo went to court to stop Apinto from joining the suit as an interested party.

The suit was entitled: In the matter of an application for judicial review in the nature of an order for Certiorari – the Republic versus The Western Regional House of Chiefs (Respondent); exparte Wassa Fiase Traditional Council, per Acting president (Applicant).

The interested party in the suit are Apinto Divisonal Stool (1st Interested Party), Nana Kwesi Sackey (Ebusuapayin, 2nd Interested party) and Nana Abena Kunadjoah ( queenmother, 3rd Interested Party).

Gyasehene Dr. Adarkwa Bediako told this paper that considering the title of the suit, Apinto filed to join as an interested party but was opposed by the applicant on grounds that the Apinto stool was not registered under the register of National House of Chiefs.

The ruling by the court gives credence to applicant's application, according to Gyasehene, has nothing to do with the Apinto Stool's push for a separate paramountcy.

According to him, it is trite knowledge that courts do not create paramountcies, either could it stop creation of paramountcies.

He, therefore, called for calm in Apinto, in the midst of the ruling, raising the hopes and aspirations of the people of Apinto that their application for a separate paramountcy was still pending before the NHC.