Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery has admonished feuding factions in the Bolgatanga Chieftaincy dispute to stop the violence and follow due process to resolve their grievances.
The protracted Bolgatanga Chieftaincy dispute between Naba Raymond Alafia Abeliba and Naba Joseph Apakre over the Bolga skin has claimed lives and destroyed properties.
Litigation over the Bolga skin between the factions is currently before the Tamale Court of Appeal.
Addressing journalists in Bolgatanga during a two-day working visit to the Upper East Region, Mr. Dery, said, government has no interest in the Bolgatanga chieftaincy and appealed to factions to follow due process in resolving the dispute.
“The position of government is clear, that it is not the remit of the executive to get involved in chieftaincy matters; we do not determine who is a chief in any chieftaincy dispute.”
All we seek to do is to make sure that, activities or the disagreement does not degenerate into violent behavior or behavior that will be breach the law. We keep the peace and security of the area and we leave the issues of chieftaincy to the traditional authorities through to the Supreme Court”.
“At the Frafra and Dagaati games this year, I called on my brothers and Sisters in Bolga to stop the violence and resort to due process and when the ruling comes out, I will like to encourage them to respect the ruling of the court, it is important that we do that.”
The Minister said: “Bolga is a place that, everybody loves to come to but we cannot maintain that status if we continue to fight. Should the ruling come and be found unfavourable by any group, due process demand that, you can go on appeal but we request humbly that there should be no violence”.
Background
The enskinment of Naba Raymond Alafia Abeliba by chiefs of the Bolga traditional area and Naba Joseph Abeka Nonge-Buuri by the Nayire as the Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga traditional area in 2015 degenerated into the Bolga chieftaincy dispute.
The two enskinment ceremonies were performed differently in succession of the late Bolga Naba, Naba Martin Adongo Abiliba III who died in September 2013.
The matter was brought before the judicial commitment of the Upper East Regional house of Chiefs and the Bolgatanga high court for redress but decisions by both institutions were challenged.
The matter was later sent to the Chieftaincy tribunal of National House of Chiefs in Kumasi and currently before the Tamale Court of Appeal.
Impact on Development
Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive Joseph Amiyuure disclosed that, about half of the assembly’s fund is spent on security to keep peace in the area to the detriment of undertaking developmental projects.
The situation has also scared investors from setting up enterprises or businesses that could create job opportunities for the youth and contribute to the local economy of the area.
Even though non-indigence’s are not targets of this dispute, it has the tendency of scaring service personnel of various sectors from accepting postings to the area.
