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The Chiefs and people of Krachi Traditional Area are surprised by the conduct of the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi for requesting the registrar of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs at Ho to inform the Paramount Chief of Nchumuru Traditional Area, Nana Obrempong Kanya II of the inauguration of Nchumuru Traditional Council at Bejamse.

According to them, they expect the Minister to know the rudiments of the ministry he superintends.

"The elevation of a Divisional Chief to the status of a Paramount Chief is clearly stated without any ambiguity in both the 1992 constitution and the Chieftaincy Act. It is not an act of government or a Minister. It is clearly by custom and usage. The 1992 constitution Article 275 defines a Paramount Chief as: 

"a person who has been nominated, elected and installed as a paramount chief in accordance with customary law and usage "

"A person becomes a Paramount Chief by customary law and usage and not by statute or recognition by the government of the day.

They stated in a press statement after a briefing yesterday.

Read below full statement

PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE CITIZENS OF KRACHI (KAAKYIE) ON THE INAUGURATION OF A SUPPOSED NCHUMURU TRADITIONAL COUNCIL.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, we have called you here this afternoon to address you on an unpleasant development in the Krachi Traditional Area in the Oti Region. 

The Area known as Krachi covers Krachi West, Krachi East and Krachi Nchumuru Administrative Districts.

Traditionally, this area used to have one Traditional Council, which is the Krachi Traditional Council, with the Krachiwura as the President of the Council until recently when some Chiefs were elevated to the status of Paramount Chiefs by the Krachiwura. All other Chiefs are Divisional and Sub- Divisional Chiefs.

Our attention has been drawn to a letter with reference no.MKRA/106/ IMAH/TRAD/001  dated 9th January 2020, signed by the Director of (F&A)  for the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, addressed to the Registrar, Volta Regional House of Chiefs Ho, requesting the registrar to inform the Paramount Chief of Nchumuru Traditional Area, Nana Obrempong Kanya II of the inauguration of Nchumuru Traditional Council at Bejamse.

The Chiefs and people of Krachi Traditional Area are surprised by the conduct of the Minister of Chieftaincy. As a Minister, we expect him to know the rudiments of the ministry he superintends. The elevation of a Divisional Chief to the status of a Paramount Chief is clearly stated without any ambiguity in both the 1992 constitution and the Chieftaincy Act. It is not an act of government or a minister. It is clearly by custom and usage. The 1992 constitution Article 275 defines a Paramount Chief as  

"a person who has been nominated, elected and installed as a paramount chief in accordance with customary law and usage "  

"A person becomes a Paramount Chief by customary law and usage and not by statute or recognition by the government of the day. 

As per custom practice of Chieftaincy institution, the elevation of a Paramount chief emanates from existing Traditional Council to the Regional House of Chiefs and then to the National House of Chiefs. At every stage, the Research Committee examines the application and offers advice. This is the practice and is highly in sink and in consonance with Article 295 of the 1992 Constitution sited supra.

We ask the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to answer these questions. 

    1. Is Nana Obrempong Kanya II a Divisional Chief or a Paramount Chief? 

    2.If a Paramount chief, when and how was he elevated to the status of a Paramount chief? 

    3. If he is not, then does he as a Divisional Chief qualify to have a Traditional Council. 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, we have conducted a search at the Registry of the National House of Chief and same revealed that as at 13th January 2020, Nana Obrempong Kanya II was a Divisional Chief.

How then on earth can a whole Chieftaincy Minister refer to him as a Paramount Chief?. This certainly cannot be a malapropism on the part of the Minister, but it is a deliberate act willfully calculated to twist, thwart and distort facts in pursuance of a hidden agenda.

Not too long a ago, the Krachiwura, who is the President of the Krachi Traditional Council, elevated the Chief of Asukawkaw to the status of a Paramount chief after passing through due process. Therefore the Krachi Traditional Council is a nonnegotiable stakeholder in the calving of new councils from it. At no point in time in the records of the Council has the status of Nana Obrempong Kanya II been elevated or recommended for elevation from Bejamsehene to a Paramount chief.

Nana Obrempong Kanya II is a Divisional Chief and not a Paramount chief. Being a Divisional chief, he cannot head a Traditional Council. Thus the actions of the Minister is illegal and not backed by any law. The procedure for elevating a chief to Paramountcy is followed in order to clearly define the jurisdiction of the chief. In elevating an area to a Traditional Council status, due process is followed to ensure that there is no conflict in determining which chief fall under the traditional council and what is the extend of dominion of the said new council. This was however not done in the instant case.

History as handed to us by our forefathers tells us that the Nchumurus are our brothers. We have lived with them on our land for years without any traditional rivalry. The interest of the Honorable Minister in trying to muddle in a hitherto peaceful area should not be allowed to go under the carpet. Whereas government and peace loving people are engaged in various activities to ensure peace, it is imponderable that the Chieftaincy Minister is directing his energy to creating confusion in krachi land. 

Ladies and gentlemen of the press the Krachiwura has caused a writ to be issued at the high court in Accra and has also filed an application for injunction to restrain the minister for chieftaincy from going ahead with his intention of creating an Nchumuru Traditional Council.

The Attorney General and the Chieftaincy Minister have been served with the said processes. Sad to say the process server was prevented from serving process on Nana OBREMPONG Kanya II at his palace at Bejamse on Friday 17th January 2020.

Our information is that some voice from above is ordering the military detachment in Kete krachi to offer protection to Nana OBREMPONG Kanya II during the program. This further shocks us to the marrow of our bones. We bring this to the attention of all of us here to bear living witnesses to the conduct of the Minister. We are hereby calling on the leadership of the ruling party NPP to demonstrate to the whole world that the party is not pursuing any grand agenda against the Krachis by bringing the Minister to order.

The nation is yet to find lasting solution to a Myriad of tribal wars and chieftaincy disputes in many areas across the country. 

We do not want to be named among the volatile areas in the country.

We are particularly calling on His Excellency the President of the Republic to halt the Minister from bringing your image and integrity as well as your administration into disrepute and or otherwise create disaffection among the Krachis.

We call on the Minister of Defense, Minister of Interior and the Minister for National security to intervene in order not to create disaffection among the Krachi.

We also call on our brothers the Nchumurus and Nana OBREMPONG Kanya II , Bejamsehene, to be guided by the things that has kept us together over the past centuries and to remain loyal to the oaths of their forefathers.

Finally, we call on our people back home and elsewhere to remain calm and not to engage in any act tantamount to tarnishing the image of Krachis, a known Peace Loving People. We Thank you all for coming. 

MAY GOD BLESS US ALL.