OPANYIN KOFI AMONOO & 3 ORS. V. NANA AFARI TWAAKO & 4 ORS.

JUDGEMENT

PWAMANG JSC:-

INTRODUCTION

My Lords, Chieftaincy is an age-old institution in Ghana so our republican Constitution, 1992, did not seek to establish it but only guaranteed its existence. The customary laws and usages relating to Chieftaincy reign supreme in the determination of who is a Chief and there is no longer a legal requirement of government recognition in order to be a Chief. The Constitution, 1992, under Article 277 defines who a Chief is in the following terms;

“In this Chapter unless the context otherwise requires, "chief" means a person, who, hailing from the appropriate family and lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled, enskinned or installed as a chief or queenmother in accordance with the relevant customary law and usage.”

It is only in areas including the organisation of Houses of Chiefs, jurisdiction in causes or matters affecting Chieftaincy, the keeping of a National Register of Chiefs, and the supporting role of Chiefs in the adm…