In the midst of the chieftaincy disputes happening in Bawku, the Mamprugu Traditional Council has cautioned government to be measured with it’s involvement in the issues.
Government in a statement, through the Ministry of Information, condemned the alleged enskinment of a new chief for Bawku, Naa Alhaji Seidu Abagre, on February 15 done at the palace of the Mamprugu overlord.
In a statement released by the Ministry of Information, government stressed that it only recognizes the already existing chief of Bawku who is duly gazzetted and a member of the House of Chiefs.
Following the events, an arrest warrant was issued by the Bolgatanga High Court after an application by one Lieutenant Colonel Ajibadeck Benjamin Baba (Rtd), to arrest the paramount chief and his kingmakers’ for their involvement in the enskinment.
The security forces effecting the arrest could not arrest these persons due to the fierce resistance they faced from the youth in Bawku. The arrest warrant was subsequently revoked by the court.
In a joint statement released by the Mamprugu Traditional Council, the chiefs registered their displeasure with government’s involvement recognizing one Naba Asigir Abugrago Azoka II as the gazzetted chief of Bawku who is a member of the National House of Chiefs.
This position of government, the traditional council believes is wrong and an affront on the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Quoting parts of the constitution to buttress their claim, the group noted that “Article 277 of the 1992 Constitution clearly states that “a chief is a person, who, hailing from the appropriate family and lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled, enskinned or installed as a chief or queenmother in accordance with the relevant customary law and usage.”
Parts of the statement therefore stressed that, “nowhere in this article is it stated that being a gazzetted and being a member of a Regional or National House of Chiefs makes one a chief. Government is free to give recognition to whosoever it pleases, what matters to us is who our enskinning authority recognizes.”
The Mamprugu Traditional Council further emphasized that, “for the record, any attempt to arrest the Nayiri will be fiercely resisted using every legal avenue available to us. Also, the call for the arrest of the Bawku Naaba is a direct challenge of the authority of the Nayiri and we take strong exception to that. Anything done against the rightfully enskinned Bawku Naaba will be deemed a direct attack on the Nayiri and his traditional authority.”
