The traditional leaders of Sampa in the Bono region are warning about the escalating chieftaincy dispute in the area, saying, Sampa is showing the early signs of becoming another Bawku.
According to them, the happenings in Sampa is not a mere traditional disagreement, but a crisis that is festering, escalating, and threatening to spiral beyond control. “The tension is real. The pain is real”.
At a press conference at the Ghana International Press Center, the leaders appealed to President John Mahama to intervene, saying, the Constitution places the safety of every Ghanaian ultimately in his hands. “When a community feels abandoned by the very systems meant to protect it, it is to the President that it must turn”.
They lamented that Ghana has witnessed the heavy cost of prolonged conflict lives lost, communities divided, national resources drained through constant security deployments, stressing “We cannot afford another bleeding wound in our nation”.
“Prevention is always less costly than repair. Mr. President, as Commander-in-Chief, every life in Sampa is under your constitutional protection. The cries of our people rise to you. Mothers fear for their sons. Traders fear investing. Youth fear that violence may return at any moment. The air in Sampa is heavy with uncertainty”, they pleaded.
The leaders continued that “history will remember whether early warnings were heeded”.
They added that “We do not seek to inflame tensions. We seek to prevent further tragedy. We do not seek confrontation. We seek protection. We do not seek special treatment. We seek equal application of the law. We must state candidly that confidence in REGSEC and DISEC has eroded. Their conduct has not reassured the community of impartiality. When institutions appear compromised, citizens feel exposed”.
The leaders noted that the issue is not a partisan appeal, but rather a moral one, saying “It is a constitutional one. It is a human one”.
“We call for immediate enforcement of court orders”, the leaders added.
For nearly twenty years, the leaders said the question of succession to the paramount stool at Sampa has been subjected to patient and lawful mediation.
The matter, they said, moved from family deliberations to the traditional council and ultimately to the revered Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the overlord of Sampa stool.
For two decades, the leaders explained that the processes of consultation, arbitration, and customary adjudication were undertaken with discipline and respect for tradition, adding, the Asantehene’s role was not symbolic; it was decisive and grounded in customary law. “The parties pledged to accept his determination”.
After this long and exhaustive process, the leaders claimed the Afia Takyiwaa family was granted the right to nominate a chief, adding, Nana Samgba Gyaflaa II was duly nominated and accepted. “He was subsequently gazetted under the laws of Ghana”.
The leaders alluded that to gazette someone is not ceremonial and not symbolic, but it is a legal recognition by the Republic of Ghana.
“It affirms legitimacy under the Constitution and the Chieftaincy Act. It means the State recognizes him. It means the law protects him. It means institutions must respect him”, they stated.
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