The Krontihene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Baffuor Nyantakyi Tutu Boateng has petitioned the National House Chiefs over non-existing Chief names as well illegalities and anomalies contained in the list of Chiefs presented to the House and its President from the New Juaben Traditional Council.

Baffuor Nyantakyi Tutu Boateng said in the Petition that, the exclusion of eight (8) existing and legitimate Divisional Chiefs and members of the New Juaben Traditional Council -Gyasehene, Kontihene, Kyidomhene, Manwerehene Ntotoyehene, Akyempemhene, Ayoko?hene and Nkoso?hene from the list of Divisional Chiefs presented to the House of Chiefs is a slap on the face of the Chieftaincy Act.

According to the Krontihene, the act constitutes a serious breach of law and customary law and usage pertaining to the New Juaben Traditional Area, by whoever or wherever the list emanated from.

He stated that the existing number of Divisional Chiefs within the New Juaben Traditional Area, are twelve (12), therefore the list as it appears in the L. I. 2409, is not a true reflection of what is on the ground, as at the date of gazette, 1st July 2020.

He said the list of Divisional Chiefs in the L. I. 2409 as it stands currently, is illegitimate because "it contains non-existing stools, unheard of in the Traditional Area since 1875 when our ancestors arrived at the current location from Asante Juaben and finally established the New Juaben settlement in 1878. These non-existing and unheard of stools are Betomhene, Srodaehene, Nsukwaohene and Adwesohene”.

He also pointed out another illegality being the inclusion of four (4) Sub-divisional Chiefs viz, Nyamekromhene, Suhyenhene, Adahene, and Akwadumhene, in Regulation 7 (1) (h) of the L. I. 2409 as at the date of gazette, 1st July 2020, and thus elevating them to Divisional status, without due regard to customary law and usage in the process of making a Divisional Chief in the New Juaben Traditional Area.

Below is the full petition by the New Juaben Krontihene:

The President
National House of Chiefs
P. O. Box 4148
Kumasi

Dear President,

PETITION ON ANOMALIES IN THE CHIEFTAINCY (MEMBERSHIP OF REGIONAL HOUSES OF CHIEFS) INSTRUMENT 2020 (L. I. 2409)
RE: REGULATION 7 (1) (h) – NEW JUABEN TRADITIONAL AREA

INTRODUCTION

May I humbly take this opportunity, with due respect, to introduce myself as a prelude to this Petition.

I am the Kontihene (or Krontihene – a spelling variant), a Divisional Chief and Head of the Kontire Ne Akwamu Division (a.k.a. Asafo Division), of the New Juaben Traditional Area, with the spiritual seat in Koforidua in the Eastern Region of the Republic of Ghana. I swore the customary Oath of Allegiance to my overlord, the Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, on 15th August 2013 under the stool name; Baffour Nyantakyi Tutu Boateng.

I swore the Official Oath, the Oath of Secrecy and the Oath of Allegiance, all on 17th October 2014 before the High Court Judge in Koforidua. My stool name was entered into the Chieftaincy Bulletin Vol. 2 No.1 of November 2015 with serial number 2164. Since my enstoolment and having been admitted as a bona fide member of the New Juaben Traditional Council, I have duly been performing my customary and judicial functions as a Divisional Chief and for over four (4) years acted as Ag. President on of behalf of the Omanhene in his absence outside the jurisdiction of the New Juaben Traditional Area.

I write this Petition on my own behalf and on behalf of my family: The Asafo Boateng Royal Family (occupants of the Kontire Stool of New Juaben Traditional Area).

PETITION

The Main Point of my Petition:

This petition avers that there are certain incontrovertible anomalies inherent in Regulation…

Confusion at Abuakwa South EC over allowance

There is confusion at Abuakwa South Office of the Electoral Commission between Registeration Officers with Special Duties (RODs) and the Municipal Electoral Officer over allowances .

The RODs numbering about twenty-three who were part of temporal staff hired and trained by the Electoral Commission for the voters registration exercise are up in arms with the Municipal Electoral Officer Christable Yeboah Asante for slashing by half transportation allowance of Ghc1000 due each officer for the voters registeration exercise .

The last straw that has broken the camel’s back is the alleged deliberate sideline of the majority of RODs from the voters exhibition exercise which started September 10 and ends September 20,2020.

The Abuakwa South Municipal Electoral Officer is reported to have vowed not to work with the RODs again in any exercise of the Electoral Commission because for “misconduct over the allowance “.

“At first some of the RODs were given Ghc200 others too were not given anything so some RODs found out from other Constituencies and they got Information that it was Ghc1000 given them as T&T allowance so we called our Returning officer so the Retuning officer tried to fight for us so we were able to get ghc200 after a meeting with the Director .She gave us Ghc200 on that day but the guys said no at least give us ghc300 so at least we get total of Ghc500 each out of Ghc1000 due us because she said she had made some expenses ”

“We wish that she was going to include us in the registeration exercise so at least we get something to replace the short-changed. So we were there when they were calling people for the exhibition exercise but we were not called because we complained over our monies” one of the officers told Starr News on condition of anonymity.

However, when contacted the Abuakwa South Municipal Electoral Officer Christable Yeboah Asante denies squandering the allowance of the RODs. she explained that she hired some office staff to do the work of the RODs during the voters registeration exercise because their allowances delayed therefore shared their allowances with the people she hired.

“The actual thing was the money didn’t come early.We went about three weeks into the exercise before the money came. We also don’t have office an at Kyebi so we have to come to Tafo and then as at that time because I didnt have money to give to them I didn’t want to burden them with T&T .We also have to do the things in the evening close at 6:00pm before we come back to Tafo to do the transfers “.

She continued ” So I had some people at the office who were collecting even before we realized they were going to pay them. That time,we had done for three weeks so later on when the money came I decided that those who started should continue doing it so the RODs will continue to stay at the centers because they had other duties to perform. So later on I have to give part of the money to those who started and those RODs who didn’t go to any place were also given some .we divided it.Not that we have chopped their money”.