Savannah News Online Reporting Only What Matters Most
Related Articles
Damongo, Ghana – Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies in Damongo, Reverend Father Clement Aapengnuo, has cautioned the chiefs and people of the Gonja Kingdom to be mindful of the slippery slope the Kingdom has taken following chieftaincy conflicts in some traditional areas.
Speaking at a seminar on leadership, dispute resolution and the justice system of Ghana for Chiefs and opinion leaders at Damongo on the topic; “Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); A Tool for conflict management and Conflict Coexistence”, Rev. Fr. Clement said chiefs must follow the right procedures to become chiefs since that will end all the problems of chieftaincy in the kingdom.
He said Gonjaland was used as a case study in enskining Chiefs in the Northern Region whenever there was a chieftaincy issue in any part of the region with chiefs coming to Damongo to learn from the Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom, the Yagbonwura.
But now he says he bows his head in shame because that can never happen again.
Rev. Fr. Clement who got a standing ovation went on further to advise the chiefs and people of the area to learn from the negative effects conflicts have caused to the development of some other kingdoms and put a stop to the various chieftaincy problems in the new region.
He reminded the people of Gonjaland that the greatness of Gonjaland is not in the greatness of Gonjas but a group working in unism to move the kingdom forward.
He also touched on the resources available in the Gonja kingdom and how they got to benefit other areas instead of the kingdom.
Touching on the cutting of rosewood in the Savannah Region, Rev. Fr. Clement said he is not against that but rather, he is very much concerned about the number of containers of rosewood that leaves the region on daily basis and yet many of the youth still remain unemployed.
He said if the ban on cutting down trees is properly adhered to, it can bring back all the rosewoods that have been cut in the next ten years.
He recommended the introduction of taxes on every tree that has been cut including a factory that is processing rosewood so that the money can be used to develop Savannah Region.
By Savannahnewsonline.com/Mahama Haruna
