Chieftaincy Act and Succession Disputes Resolution: A Panacea for National Security?

Vincent Assanful ORCID iD

Issue: Vol.7  No.5  May 2021 Issue  Article 1 pp. 69-77
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2021751  |   Published online 6th May 2021.
© 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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The chieftaincy institution is a revered institution and as such attempts have been made to maintain its sanctity. However, over the years, the institution has been fraught with disputes thereby bringing its image into disrepute. The chieftaincy Act, 759 (2008) was enacted by the parliament of Ghana to regulate the institution. The Act has made provisions for the resolution of disputes that have attended the institution. This article is an attempt to assess the effectiveness of the Act on the dispute resolution mechanisms of the judicial committees of the Houses of Chiefs. Using interview and textual analysis as its main instruments, the article looks at the role of the Judicial Committees of the Houses of Chiefs in dealing with the numerous succession disputes that has bedeviled the institution. The article will assess the methods the Committee uses in handling cases that come before it and how parties to the succession disputes collaborate with the Committee to dispense with the case. The article argues that if the Judicial Committee is well resourced, it will be in a position to help deal with chieftaincy succession disputes expeditiously. This would reduce the incidents of open conflicts resulting in deaths and destructions of properties thereby threatening national security.

Keywords: chieftaincy, succession disputes, national security, houses of chiefs, arbitration

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Vincent Assanful (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religion and Human Values, University of Cape Coast – Ghana.

Assanful V.,  “Chieftaincy Act and Succession Disputes Resolution: A Panacea for Ensuring National Security? ” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 7 no.5 (2021): 67-77  https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2021751

© 2021 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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