Ministry completes phase of Customary Law Project

Story: Mary Mensah
THE Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture has successfully completed the first phase of the ascertainment and codification of the Customary Law project on land and family in Ghana.
It is anticipated that the three-phase project, when completed, will considerably minimise the numerous chieftaincy, family and land disputes across the country and thereby create a favourable environment to enhance Ghana’s competitiveness for investment.
Taking his turn at the meet-the-press series in Accra yesterday, the sector Minister, Mr Alex Asum-Ahensah, said the first phase of the project covered 20 traditional areas, two from each region.
According to him, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) sponsored the first phase, which was executed by the National House of Chiefs (NHC) and the Law Reform Commission.
Mr Asum-Ahensah said the World Bank, under Phase II of the Land Administration Project, had made funding available for the second phase of the project to cover 30 additional traditional areas, three from each region.
He said as part of the processes of ensuring stability and security for national development, the Constitution had mandated the NHC to compile customary laws and lines of succession applicable to each stool or skin in the country.
He said the purpose of the project was to curtail unending litigation in chieftaincy affairs, clarify procedures for knowledge of stool/skin claimants, king makers and other stakeholders to ensure peace and cohesion during periods of transition and serve as an authentic documentation for instruction and reference for the codification of customary laws and succession.
He said following the elevation of six stools in the Greater Accra Region to paramountcies, three traditional councils had been established to facilitate the execution of the functions and responsibilities of the paramountcies in the Nungua, Ngleshie Alata and Osu Traditional areas.
Mr Asum-Ahensah said the ministry was working with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to activate the Cultural Trust Fund established in 2004, with the view to harnessing resources for the promotion of the arts and culture for development.
He said the fund was expected to address the poor funding of the sector over the years and indicated that GH¢2 million allocated in the 2012 budget to promote the creative arts industry had been released to the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) .
He said the ministry and its sector agencies were saddled with several challenges, such as inadequate budgetary allocation, delays in the release of funds, inadequacy of funding and logistics required to fund the statutory functions of chiefs, particularly judicial functions, and low rates of sitting allowances paid to members of the judicial committees.
On the outlook for the coming year, Mr Asum-Ahensah said  the ministry intended to work closely with cultural practitioners and stakeholders in the creative industry to implement the Creative Industry Sector Medium-Term Development Plan.