The Western Regional House of Chiefs (WRHC), according to information available to The Chronicle, did not send any chief as a representative to a meeting called by the National House of Chiefs (NHC) in Kumasi yesterday.
The remaining fifteen regional Houses of Chiefs were dully represented at the meeting, which was called to discuss the way forward in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
The WRHC has been ripped apart by litigation, thereby making it impossible for the House to even convene a meeting.
An election of the president of the House and members to the National House of Chiefs suffered a legal battle, leading to a Sekondi High Court annulling the election.
The Court, in its ruling declared the election, which elected the Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi, Tetretteh Okuamoah Sekyim as president as irregular and stopped him (president) from carrying himself out as leader of the House.
The Court consequently ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) and the House to organise fresh elections within ten working days.
Dissatisfied with the Court order, Okuamoah Sekyim filed for stay of execution, pending an appeal against the Sekondi High Court orders, at the Court of Appeal.
What this means is that until the Sekondi High Court orders is set aside by the Appeal Court, there is no way the House can convene a meeting. This is the reason why members of the WRHC did not take part in the NHC meeting to make input on the way forward against the galamsey fight.
The Registrar of the House, Mr. Samuel Owusu Bimpong, confirmed the NHC meeting in a telephone interview to this reporter.
He also conceded that his outfit could not send any delegation because of the litigation that has plagued the House. “As I speak to you now, I am at the meeting and my duty is to take note of the meeting and later brief the House,” he said.
According to him, since he was representing the WRHC at the meeting in his capacity as a Registrar, he could not make input because he was not an elected member of the NHC.
This reporter was told that as a result of the injunction that has been slapped on the president-elect for the House, the recent meeting called to welcome the Ministers for Energy, Chieftaincy and Education were not chaired by the president.
It was as a result of the above that the Omanhene of Nsein Traditional Area, Awulae Agyefi Kwame III, took on the regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko, for failing to mediate and settle the issue at home and not at the court. The regional minister has, however, explained that he made the effort, but did not succeed and cannot, therefore, be blamed.
The post 15 Regions Present, Western Chiefs Absent appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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