The Chronicle may not claim to be experts in security matters, but we dare say that the recent decision by the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to approve a Kundum Festival celebration by a claimant to the Atuabo stool, was a risky gamble that could have endangered the peace of the area.
Reports indicate that Awulae Amihere Kpanyile has long been the gazetted chief of Atuabo. However, his nephew, Egya Ackah, was recently enstooled as paramount chief under the stool name Awulae Blay. Despite not being gazetted, the new claimant decided to celebrate the Kundum Festival, a move that sparked strong protests from the local chiefs.
In response, REGSEC quickly intervened, holding separate meetings with both Awulae Amihere Kpanyile and the claimant to the stool. The outcome of these meetings was that the new chief could celebrate the festival, but without riding in a palanquin.
“REGSEC is not interested in who is the rightful chief and who is not. Our priority is to ensure peace in the area,” REGSEC Chairman Joseph Nelson told The Chronicle in a telephone interview.
While REGSEC’s intervention may have been well-intentioned, its members should have realised that dealing with an ungazetted chief could set a dangerous precedent. In this regard, we agree entirely with the former Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko, who stated that permission should never have been granted to the new claimant to celebrate the Kundum Festival.
As Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko rightly noted, “There are clear rules governing chieftaincy and traditional institutions. I will be shocked if REGSEC is aware that someone who is not a gazetted paramount chief is being allowed to celebrate Kundum in that capacity.”
Indeed, the Kundum celebration, which REGSEC approved, had the potential to throw the traditional area into confusion and conflict. The Chronicle recalls several occasions in the past when REGSEC took swift and decisive action to halt similar celebrations due to the risk of clashes.
For instance, in the long-standing dispute over the jurisdiction of Toromu, a farming community in the Ahanta West Municipality, REGSEC intervened to stop the Kundum celebrations of both Lower and Upper Dixcove because of the potential for violence. For years, REGSEC prudently suspended the festival in those communities to prevent bloodshed.
In contrast, REGSEC’s handling of the Atuabo situation may have temporarily calmed tensions, but it sends the wrong message that anyone can defy lawful traditional authority and still be granted official permission to operate under the guise of peace. By not halting the Kundum celebration outright, REGSEC may have inadvertently legitimised an illegitimate claim.
It must be remembered that chieftaincy disputes in Ghana have often escalated into violence, displacement and even death. Only recently, at Asemkow, in the Ahanta West Municipality, a conflict between Asemkow and Butre left hundreds displaced, one person dead and the chief of Butre injured by a cutlass attack.
The Western Region has in recent years enjoyed relative peace compared to other parts of the country. That peace must be jealously guarded, not jeopardised through indecision or ill-considered compromises.
REGSEC must, therefore, act with consistency and firmness in matters relating to traditional authority. In its quest to preserve peace, it should avoid actions that could embolden illegitimate claimants or undermine lawful authority. Peace built on compromise with confusion is fragile and history has shown that such peace seldom lasts.
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