Divisional Chief of Okper in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area of the Eastern Region has decried the rising chieftaincy issues in the Eastern Region and Okper in particular.
Nene Nanekey Terkpertey Ofori Aggor IX, in an interview with the press at Somanya urged the regional minister, Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, to use her position to abreast herself of the traditions of the various Traditional Areas to determine the legitimate persons to occupy the stools.
The chief made the call at Somanya during a press conference by the Kingmakers of Okper to underscore his legitimacy as chief of the area and not Nene Anyeenorgu Teye Agor IX, a parallel chief of the area. "People wake up from nowhere and parade themselves to be chiefs, and as I'm speaking to you now, in Yilo Krobo, there are ex-convicts parading themselves as chiefs," a situation he said the chieftaincy Act frowns on.
He furthered: "If you look at the Chieftaincy Act, once you've been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction, you cannot hold yourself or someone cannot identify you as a chief." According to the traditional leader, the traditional council, by virtue of its status as a statutory body, must be empowered and reconstituted so that they will do their work as a traditional council.
