Parliament passes Chieftaincy Bill

Page 14, June 7, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday passed the Chieftaincy Bill, which seeks to consolidate, with amendments, the 1971 Chieftaincy Act (Act 370) to bring it in conformity with the provision on the chieftaincy institution in the Constitution.
The details of the bill include the provision of the National House of Chiefs, Regional Houses of Chiefs, Traditional and Divisional Councils, Chieftaincy matters, jurisdiction and judicial committees, proceedings in chieftaincy matters, stool property, customary law, chiefs and miscellaneous provisions.
The bill, which was presented to the House in October, last year, was referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Sports and Culture for examination.
In studying the bill, the committee held a two-day stakeholders’ workshop and consultative session during which it had recourse to 16 documents, including Acts, Decrees, the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament.
At yesterday’s sitting, the Minister of State in charge of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, moved for the third reading of the bill to pave way for its passage.
His motion was seconded by the Chairman of the Committee on Youth and Culture, Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah, after which the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alhaji Malik Yakubu Alhassan, pronounced the bill passed.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, is expected to brief Parliament on the commission’s planned programme of activities for the upcoming 2008 general election and other related matters on Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
The Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh, announced this when he presented the Business Statement of the House for next week.
He urged Members of Parliament to take note of the date of the meeting and attend accordingly.