National House of chiefs ‘No’ vote campaign is unfortunate – Awulae Agyefi
The Omanhen of Nsein Traditional Area in the Western Region, Awulae Agyefi Kwame II, has described as unfortunate the statement issued by the President of the National House of Chiefs that Nananom were in support of a No vote in the upcoming Referendum.
Awulae Kwame II, who is a Pioneer Member of the National House of Chiefs, stated that by virtue of the position of the President of the National House Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, made him an automatic member of the Council of State which counseled the President of the Republic of Ghana on important national issues such as the Referendum.
Awulae Kwame II who expressed his disappointment in a News statement issued and copied to the GNA in Takoradi indicated that the President of the National House of Chiefs was not an Executive President of the House but an elected President and was therefore not clothed with the power to think exclusively for Nananom.
He said for the President of the National House of Chiefs to have issued the statement without the due process of allowing the regional house of chiefs to deliberate on the upcoming Referendum, stating the purported position of Nananom was improper.
The Nsein Omanhen explained that with the establishment of the National House of Chiefs, every issue that came before Nananom had to be discussed at the Regional level before deliberation.
He said every Region was given two weeks to deliberate on any referred issue and if a Regional House of Chiefs did not offer its suggestion within the two weeks it was deemed that the said house was not interested in the issue.
Awulae Kwame II noted with concern that with the current referendum issue, the National House of Chiefs did not notify the Regional House of chiefs to enable them deliberate on the issue, only for the President of the National House of Chiefs to come up with the statement as if enough consultations were done.
He in this regard stressed that, after broader consultations, members of the Regional House of Chiefs expected the National House of chiefs to come out with a statement on the issue.
Giving a historical background to the establishment of the National House of Chiefs, Awulae Agyefi Kwame II said before the 1966 coup, there were chieftaincy blocs in the country made up of the chiefs in the Northern part of the country, with their provincial headquarters in Tamale , Ashanti chiefs had their provincial headquarters in Kumasi, while chiefs in the Western, Central, Eastern Greater Accra and Volta regions had a joint provincial Council headquarters in Dodowa.
He said later, Nananom felt that the various blocs did not augur well for unity among them, hence the National House of Chiefs was created in 1971 pursuant to the chieftaincy Act,1971 (Act 370).
According to him, the membership of the National house chiefs comprised of five prominent Paramount chiefs from every region of the country.
He said with the establishment of the National House of Chiefs, every issue that went before Nananom was discussed at the Regional level before deliberations.
It is recalled that at the weekend, Togbe Afede XIV President, National House of Chiefs, urged Ghanaians to vote No in the upcoming Referendum.
Source: GNA