The Chieftaincy Institution which is the oldest governance institution in Ghana has come under siege and something drastic and urgent must be done to salvage the situation.
Being an entrenched National Governance Institution, Chieftaincy together with its Traditional Councils as established by customary law and usage is guaranteed under Article 270 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
As stated explicitly under Article 270 (2), Parliament shall have no power to enact any law which Confers on any person or authority the right to accord or withdraw recognition to or from a chief for any purpose whatsoever, or
in any way detracts or derogates from the honour and dignity of the institution of chieftaincy.
Unfortunately, the NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY appears to stand in total breach of this important constitutional provision.
Yesterday, I was at Registration Centre Number 0310130030 to register for my National Identity Card.
As part of the tedious registration process I stated that my current occupation is “Traditional/Chief” and the Interviewer captured this under section 5 of the National Identity Card Application Form as being item 1013 in the occupations schedule.
To my utmost surprise, I was issued with an Enrolment Receipt Printout which captured my current occupation of Traditional Ruler/Chief as 1013 Workers in religion (Full time religious workers).
In an answer to my query, I was told that the National Identification Authorities did not make any provision for the occupation of “Chief” or “Traditional Ruler” in the Schedule of Occupations.
This act of omission or commission also contravenes the Directive Principles of State Policy particularly Article 34(8) which enjoins the state: “to recognise that the managers of public, stool, skin and family lands are fiduciaries charged with the obligation to discharge their function for the benefit respectively of the people of Ghana, of the stool, skin, or family concerned and are accountable as fiduciaries in this regard”.
What is the way out of this situation?
