President of the National House of Chiefs; Togbe Afede XIV
Members of the National House of Chiefs are appealing for a restoration of their power of summons.
They believe it will make them more relevant as partners of government in fighting corruption and developing the nation.
The chiefs led by the President of the National House of Chiefs; Togbe Afede XIV reiterated the call when the Ghana Beyond Aid Committee visited the House on Thursday to consult with them on the Ghana Beyond Aid Charter and Strategy Document. They appealed to the government through the Senior Minister; Hon. Yaw Osafo Maafo to expedite the restoration of their powers.
This is not the first time the chiefs are making this call. Chiefs have asked for a restoration of the power of summons to enable them deal with several pertinent issues in their traditional areas including the galamsey menace.
The call for power to summon residents under their jurisdiction however came out more forcefully after the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) made a presentation to the House on Thursday calling on the chiefs to assert their role in the fight against corruption.
The chiefs however believe that their powers of summons should be restored if they are indeed considered as important development agents.
The chiefs’ power to summon was clipped by the Supreme Court in a July 20, 2011 ruling which struck out Section 63 (d) of the Chieftaincy Act 759, under which deliberate refusal to honour a call from a chief to attend to an issue was an offence.
On July 20, 2011, the Supreme Court struck out section 63 (d) of the Chieftaincy Act, 2008.
The petitioner, Nana Ampofo filed a writ at the highest court of the land challenging the constitutionality of the provision of the Act and secured judgment in his favour.
That sub-section stated that a person who “deliberately refuses to honour a call from a chief to attend to an issue commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than two hundred penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than three months or both”.
There have since been attempts by the National House of Chiefs to get the law amended to at least, clothe the Chiefs with some power of authority.
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