Wednesday, 28th May, 2025
Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh
Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, on Thursday, 22nd May, 2025, the Nsawam/Adoagyiri Municipality was hit with a tragic and regrettable incident which resulted in the death of one resident of the Adoagyiri township and left others injured. Several properties were vandalised indiscriminately, and some of those scenes were recorded by terrified onlookers.
Mr Speaker, as the Member of Parliament for the Constituency, I had the opportunity to inquire from community leaders shortly after the news broke to seek adequate, urgent intervention from our state security agencies, having hindsight of the extent to which such disturbances could go if not neutralised.
Mr Speaker, in the same regard, I make this Statement as an urgent call for intervention by the state security forces and related agencies, the Ghana Police Service, the National Security, and the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, to help bring this sporadic outbreak of violence to a definite end. The Statement is also a preliminary address on the matter, particularly because many videos have circulated in the media that depict a gruesome atmosphere in Nsawam/ Adoagyiri, an area which is typically bustling with traders and many road users who frequent the place.
Mr Speaker, it is important, therefore, to give some sense of the situation to the residents and public who have seen the videos of violent activities in Adoagyiri. While causes are yet to be fully verified, it is known from prevailing narratives that two groups of people, believed to be affiliated to the Adoagyiri community and the Adoagyiri Zongo community were actors in the incident that left the entire township in a state of apprehension. Several people were injured, vehicles, stores and shops were vandalised, and others set ablaze in what appeared to be a retaliation from one group after an earlier incident.
All these, owing to long-standing differences between Adoagyiri and Adoagyiri Zongo natives. It is believed that this spark of tension can be traced to events that took place a week prior to this very mishap. I was informed that a small group of unidentified people attacked a young man in the township which began a chain of retaliation, given their individual affiliations with the larger factions of the community. The heated engagement elevated to a full-scale conflict that has now brought about the death of a young man.
Mr Speaker, it is worth noting here that these conflicts, stem mainly from chieftaincy disputes that are ongoing in the area. It is indeed true that Adoagyiri township has been unfortunately occasioned with chieftaincy disputes in the past; though not all the events turned out as open conflicts, various notable activities as far back as 2007 contributed to the growing differences between the groups. We recall just two years ago, in August 2023, two people were killed in the township on chieftaincy disputes. The Ghana Police Service through its police command at the Nsawam/ Adoagyiri Municipality moved in in great numbers to prevent the conflict from claiming more lives at the height of the tensions.
Mr Speaker, these heinous acts have been condemned consistently by all stakeholders. As Members of Parliament and as a House, it is our duty to deliberate these matters not only in the context of an ongoing spillover of chieftaincy disputes but also a governing body that assesses the root causes and put measures in place to prevent them from taking shape. These measures will emanate from our debates and through collaborations with the state security agencies as well as the Ministry for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs. We should therefore prioritise the debates and brainstorm ways which will be best suited to address the area-specific chieftaincy disputes that affect this in many other towns across the country.
Mr Speaker, permit me to acknowledge the efforts of the Eastern South Regional Police Command, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Ohene-Boadi, and the Police Divisional Command, Superintendent Stephen Appiah, for their swift responses to the incident. The collaboration between their uniformed officers and residents were critical in salvaging the chaos to a greater extent. Indeed, we saw heavy deployment of police officers leading to the arrest of many suspects involved in this incident that took place last week.
Mr Speaker, with the swift intervention of the Minister for the Interior, Alhaji Muntaka MubarakMohammed, who doubles as the head of National Security, coordinated strategies were employed to deal with the violence in a timely manner. The people of Nsawam/Adoagyiri are indeed grateful.
Mr Speaker, nonetheless, this is work in progress. Our concerns are still rooted in the need to take hold of these disturbances even before they spiral out of control. The call for an enhanced security architecture, including a broader collaboration with the National Security, who obtain and act on intelligence is critical now more than ever.
Mr Speaker, the trend suggests that we also need to take a forceful approach to rid the community of these volatile security threats in Nsawam/Adoagyiri and in other parts of our beloved country. Through this august House, I earnestly call on all residents to exercise restraint and uphold the rule of law. Let us not forget that we are one people, and the peace and stability of Nsawam/ Adoagyiri is our collective responsibility. We remain committed to working with all stakeholders to first ensure the safety of people, to bring justice for losses suffered, to foster reconciliation, and to create a system for long-term peace.
Mr Speaker, thank you for your indulgence. I am grateful.
Hon Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings
Korle Klottey
Mr Speaker, thank you, for the opportunity to comment on the Statement made by the Hon Member for Nsawam/Adoagyiri.
I think, increasingly, chieftaincy disputes have become a threat to our national security cohesion and stability, which obviously is becoming a problem in this country. Presently, there are over 200 disputes in this country that are based on chieftaincy and land disputes which is not acceptable given that we are a democracy, given that we have all the necessary frameworks in place to deal with some of the issues that we are seeing.
Mr Speaker, it would appear that when it comes to the issue of chieftaincy, far too many people, individuals, and groups feel that they are justified in the use of firearms in settling scores, which is in breach of all our laws. I would hope that, in addressing the issues that we are seeing around chieftaincy, we are not making exceptions in how the law is applied, because that is a trend that we are seeing all across this country. Too many people are in possession of too many illegal arms and are using them in the name of chieftaincy disputes, which is also causing a lot of instability. This happens all the way from Bawku right down to Nsawam and other parts of Greater Accra and the rest of the country.
Mr Speaker, indeed we have seen the police acting as they ought to, but I think that we also need to perhaps have a broader conversation on the issue of how chieftaincy disputes are being addressed in the country. There appears to be a little bit too much political interference in some of these cases, and we are going to have to be dispassionate and apolitical in how these matters are addressed if we are to ensure that there is a reversal in some of these conflicts and we go back to a more stable scenario in this country where law and order are respected by all and the flouting of our laws is not justified by chieftaincy disputes.
I would like to offer my condolences to the family that lost a relative and to wish speedy recovery to those who were injured in the process, but to also once again urge that the Ministry of the Interior and of course National Security are given the relevant equipment that is required to actually support the efforts to help maintain law and order in our country.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Hon Peter Lanchene Toobu
Wa West
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by my Brother, the Hon Member for Nsawam/Adoagyiri, Mr Annoh-Dompreh.
Mr Speaker, conflict is inherently part of the human society, but when it becomes violent to the point that we are losing lives and gradually young people are grouping and they are attacking each other; it should be a worry to every member of this country, particularly, those of us who represent the good people of the various constituencies. Nsawam/Adoagyiri has been a very peaceful constituency over the years and I am surprised that very small issues that are emerging from Nsawam/Adoagyiri is gradually becoming something that is defining the constituency in a very dirty image.
I believe that the Hon Member for Nsawam/Adoagyiri is making this Statement and calling on stakeholders to come on board for us to nip it in the bud because we have one too many conflicts in this country that is threatening the very existence of our nation and all of us should rise up; wherever it is happening, let us solve it. We have too many institutions in this country to be suffering from conflict; we have the National Peace Council as well as the various security agencies under the security sector. We should all come together to ensure that what is happening in Nsawam/Adoagyiri is stopped today and stopped forever because it is not good for our image.
Mr Speaker, we are talking about codifying succession or lineage of our various skins or stools. Many a time, it is the confusion that erupts as a result of nobody being aware of who the next to be enskinned or enstooled is. If we go further to codify all our laws, very particularly in the Chieftaincy Institution, it would be very clear as to who is the next in line. In case the Chief dies today, we should be able to know that this is the next person who will be enskinned or enstooled. Without clarity, we would always have all these confusions with people struggling and probably using money to get involved in things that are not supposed to be an issue.
Mr Speaker, I support the call by the Hon Member, that all state agencies responsible for managing conflict and crime come on board for us to push an agenda to solve the problem in Nsawam/ Adoagyiri. Nsawam/Adoagyiri is so peaceful, and we have to let it return to the status quo.
Mr Speaker, I am so grateful, and I thank the Hon Member very much for the Statement.
Hon Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh
Bosome Freho
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyiri, Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh.
Mr Speaker, Nsawam/Adoagyiri is one of the traditional communities well known in Ghana. It is surprising to find out that Nsawam/Adoagyiri which used to be one peaceful area is all of a sudden degenerating into a conflict-prone area because of chieftaincy issues.
Mr Speaker, it is important that as a country and not just in Nsawam/ Adoagyiri, a whole lot of flashpoints, traditional communities that are very peaceful and serene to stay is now becoming one very dangerous area that we need to avert our minds to. It is not surprising that the United States of America, in their travel advisory policy quite recently, rated Ghana as one of the areas that is gradually becoming a conflict-prone area because of some of these chieftaincy issues that references were made to in the Report.
Mr Speaker, as a country and as a House, I think we should refer some of these matters to the able Committees to take a look at. We need to critically look at the Chieftaincy Act and also find out how we can use strategic measures to resolve some of these issues without degenerating into the conflict we usually see.
Mr Speaker, when you get into most of these issues, the causative agent is minimal. Something that, forgive my choice of words, will not be that significant to even blow a whole issue into a conflict but we end up having them and that is where a majority of people take advantage of to do other things that are unnecessary.
Mr Speaker, I would crave your indulgence and call on you to direct these and similar issues that have to do with conflict to the relevant Committee to deal with and if possible, make some amendments, proposals or strategies to the Act and then get the security agents to collaborate, so that we can resolve the majority of the issues that have to do with chieftaincy in this country. I would also want to commend the Member of Parliament for Nsawam/ Adoagyiri.
I saw some of the footage and saw how he resolutely tried to resolve some of these impacts of the conflict and also tried to provide some support to some of the victims that have been affected as a result of this conflict. I commend him for such an act. I would also want to urge every leader in Nsawam/Adoagyiri to calm down. Let tempers calm down so that we can resolve this matter peacefully. Then we can have the Nsawam/Adoagyiri that we all know as one peaceful community again which will also culminate into the general peace of this country.
With these few words, Mr Speaker, I would once again commend the maker of the Statement, and thank you to for giving me the opportunity. I am grateful.
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