Open AccessChieftaincy Act and Succession Disputes Resolution: A Panacea for National Security?
Author(s) -
Vincent Assanful
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of religious and theological studies/e-journal of religious and theological studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2821-8957
pISSN - 2458-7338
DOI - 10.38159/erats.2021751
Subject(s) - parliament , institution , ecological succession , political science , panacea (medicine) , arbitration , law , public administration , politics , medicine , ecology , alternative medicine , pathology , biology
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