Lume-Ge, (V/R), Jan 11, GNA - Mr Kojo Krakani, Assemblyman for Matse/Lume Electoral Area, has observed that current conditions dictated that, those who qualified to be chiefs in the Volta Region should give their prior consent to be elevated to that status.

Adding that, unlike some parts of the country, where stools have immeasurable amounts of property that catered for the needs of their chiefs and royal responsibilities, that could largely not be said of stools in the Volta Region, where occupants come to realise once installed that, they have to fend for themselves. Mr Krakani expressed this opinion during interactions with some chiefs and elders at Lume-Ge, near Ho at a forum to discuss the development of the traditional area.

He observed that, when the bear facts of the situation was made clear to all the qualified candidates, the one who consented to occupy the stool would do so without any illusions and unrealistic expectations. Mr Krakani also observed that, unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the country, most chiefs in the Volta Region were left to resort to their own ways and means, once the fanfare surrounding their installations were over.

"In such situations, unless the chief was a self-made person before ascending a stool, the dignity and respect that he should command among his subjects and the outside, would be seriously undermined", he said. Mr Krakani said where the chief was a public or civil servant then he had no choice but to expend his monthly salary to be able to meet his royal obligations.

He, therefore, urged kingmakers and royal families in the region to modify existing traditional norms regarding how chiefs could be catered for from property, especially stool lands owned by royal clans. Mr Krakani said unless there were modifications regarding the selection of chiefs and their welfare in the region, chieftaincy might lose its dignity and respect among the people or the right candidates might not be chosen.