Chiefs’ Censorship – Constitutional Case: Press Freedom is not subject to any chief’s whim

Press Freedom and the Chieftaincy institution are both guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

Whereas the Media is described as the Fourth Estate of the Realm and charged with the responsibility to ensure accountability of all to the People from whom all Power emanates.

Chiefs have a fiduciary duty to be accountable to the People, on whose behalf they hold in trust the Lands and Resources of the Traditional Area.

Traditional Councils are a creation of the State, they have no power to sue or be sued and have no ownership rights over land or any resources of the Stool or Skin.

Traditional Councils are distinct and separate from the Stool or Skin.

However, the Traditional Councils are allocated 20% of revenue accruing from Lands for the effective running of the Council through the Government appointed Registrar after the Stool or Skin is allocated 25% for the upkeep of the Stool and the District Assembly is allocated 55% of the 90% of all Land revenue after an initial deduction of 10% for the Administration of Stool Lands.

TRADITIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE NOT STOOL ELDERS.

Traditional Councils are advisory bodies with no Executive Power;

The members of the Traditional Council are only advisors of the Chief who exercises the Power of the Stool or Skin.

ACT 1036 which is the Land Law of Ghana, demands Transparency and Accountability in the administration of Lands and Mineral Resources by the Chiefs and relevant Government officials.

All Trustees have a fiduciary duty to be accountable to the People on whose behalf they hold in trust the Lands including Beaches and Resources including Minerals – Salt, Gold, Diamond, Bauxite etc in trust for the Stool Subjects.

ACT 1036 imposes penalties of a fine and prison sentence on defaulters;

Classic cases that require immediate investigation by the Special Prosecutor include the Cantonments Civil Aviation Landgrab by faceless developers, Ada Songhor Lagoon and Salt annexation by Electrochem and the Ashanti and Akyem Galamsey…

The media and whistleblowers are important to the success of the Fight Against Corruption and the Fight Against Galamsey.

The Lands Commission and the Minerals Commission, together with the supervisory Minister especially his Deputies who have been cited in Galamsey and Land Looting cases, will have to be investigated.

Government Officials and Chiefs are not above the Law and cannot decide not to be accountable for their stewardship in the administration of Lands and Mineral Resources.

Whenever an allegation of maladministration, corruption, complicity or involvement in Galamsey and Land Looting is made; it must trigger automatically an investigation to confirm same or exonerated the person(s) or prosecute the culprit(s) as the case may be.

Any attempt to rubble-rouse or clear persons including appointees or chiefs, is unacceptable and does not remove the stigma of the allegation.

There are no exemptions, no untouchables or Safe Havens or Kingdoms with indemnity.

Kingdoms and Chiefdoms have no place in a Republic.

The Republic of Ghana is a Unitary State which practices a Constitutional Democracy with ONE SET OF LAWS FOR ALL CITIZENS, in every part of the country without exception.

Effective 1st July 1960 all the existing Kingdoms were subsumed under the Republic of Ghana.

There must be an immediate review of the Executive Instruments purporting to be giving the Ada Salt and Lagoon to McDan through Electrochem and the Achimota Forest Lands to the Owoo family to the detriment of the Ada People and the La and Osu Stools respectively.

The illegal return of the Cantonments Civil Aviation Land to the La Stool and opaque takeover by faceless developers aided by the Lands Ministry and Lands Commission must be thoroughly investigated by the Special Prosecutor as a whole, with the initial 2007 Ghana@50 AU Village illegal takeover by cronies of the government in a classic conflict of interest and corruption case.

The specific allegations of Galamsey Chiefs, Chinese Galamseyers, Military and Government officials, PartyuNuHiaSika politicians, their families and business allies must be investigated by the Special Prosecutor and CHRAJ.

The use of the Military in annexation of prime La Stool Lands including the 15th April, 2021 Kpletso Shooting and Assault by armed men in Ghana Army Uniform must be properly investigated and the perpetrators and commanders who ordered the deployment which resulted in several persons including journalists being injured, three of the victims have so far died without any official report being made public or a statement by President Akufo Addo.

The Kpletso investigation must include an investigation of the Military High Command, the Ghana Police Service, National Media Commission who refused to investigate the crime and why the CHRAJ investigation has stalled.

The 52acres of the Airport Hills Lands claimed to have been bought from the Military and recently allocated to a private developer, Esi Gbedemah for 2% of the value under the watch of Samuel Abu Jinapor must be investigated…

Plot # C39 at Cantonments fraudulently allocated to Jean Adukwei Mensa’s IEA on which a Hotel is springing up together with the long list of other Land Looters attached to the Justice Sophia Akuffo Article 146 Petition which is in the possession of President Akufo Addo and the Special Prosecutor must be investigated and the findings made public.

Indeed the narrow discussion of the muzzling of the media and whistleblowers in recent times cannot be narrowed down to an Odike vs Asanteman Council or Radio Ada vs Ada Traditional Council or La Youth vs La Traditional Council matter.

This Chiefs’ Censorship Case is a bigger issue of abuse of power and attempted coverup of corruption arising from lack of transparency by trustees in the administration of trust property.

Proceeds of Corruption and Money Laundering are hidden in fraudulent Land Transactions to avoid detection in bank accounts and associated paper trail.

The Office of the President and the Office of the Special Prosecutor and indeed all Anti-Corruption agencies and civil society organisations must take a keen interest in this if the Fight Against Corruption and the Fight Against Galamsey are to be won.

Ghana is bleeding from these activities and can be saved if all Ghanaians follow this keenly to its logical conclusion.

Ghanaians are resolved to be Citizens and not Spectators.

Ghana is not broke, bankrupt or heavily indebted; rather Ghana’s wealth has been taken over by a greedy few with unexplained wealth.

State Funds and State Assets including State Lands and Bungalows, Mineral Resources including Salt have been taken over by a greedy few with unexplained wealth.

AriseGhana Youth for your country.

Ghanaians must ensure the retrieval and return of these State Funds, State Assets and State Lands…

SPEAK OUT.

Nobody can be gagged by any Chief or Traditional Council.

The mass closure of critical media houses by the Akufo Addo government cannot be resurrected under any guise by any Chief or Traditional Council.

Whistleblowers must also be circumspect in their comments which must be factual.

However, if it is established that ‘A CHIEF IS A THIEF” or “A THIEF IS A CHIEF” that cannot be an insult, if it is a proven fact.

Investigations to establish the fact or otherwise is key, thus hush-hushing or silencing only keeps the speculation rather than ending it.

God Save Our Homeland Ghana and help us RESIST CENSORSHIP.

#SeeSomething
#SaySomething
#SaveGhanaNow

By Prince-Derek Adjei