WELCOME MOVE (NOVEMBER 9. 2007)

THE recent dispute in Anlo over the instalment of Torgbui Sri as Awoemefia has taken another twist, with some chiefs and clan heads from the area accusing the police of open bias and unprofessionalism.
The chiefs and clan heads also implicated political heads in the Volta Region, the Attorney-General and even the President in the conflict. They called for the withdrawal of the police from the area and the lifting of the curfew that had been imposed in Anlo.
It is easy to discern that this conflict will not go away without any effort to address some of these accusations and perceptions of police bias and political complicity. That is why the DAILY GRAPHIC welcomes the swift response by the Ministry of the Interior to investigate the allegations made against the police.
Conscious of the fact that the police are responsible for securing the peace and security of the people, we believe that every effort must be made to protect their credibility and also put them in check if they act unprofessionally.
While it may not be advisable to subscribe to the withdrawal of the police from the area, given the tense atmosphere there now, we wish to caution the police and the military to act in a manner that will ensure that their presence is not seen as a threat to peace-loving people in Anlo.
We believe that the government, through the Ministry of the Interior, will establish a very objective committee to investigate the complaints against the police for perceived bias and institute measures that will restore the confidence of the people in the police.
It is quite disheartening that anybody would like to draw the offices of the Attorney-General and the President into a chieftaincy conflict and the DAILY GRAPHIC wishes to advise politicians not to feast on these allegations and deliberately create the impression that this conflict is politically motivated.
As explained by the Deputy Attorney-General, the AG’s Department had made a very conscious effort to provide the Judicial Committee of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs with a lawyer but those efforts had only been stalled by some internal wrangling in the Volta Regional House of Chiefs.
The DAILY GRAPHIC wishes to emphasise the key role the House of Chiefs must play in addressing chieftaincy conflicts. That calls for the need to ensure that the regional house of chiefs are adequately empowered to deal decisively and authoritatively with such conflicts.
Definitely the best way to resolve chieftaincy conflicts is to use the appropriate channels, and in this regard we wish to aver our faith in the ability of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs to address the issue amicably.
The chieftaincy institution has been established over centuries on time-tested traditions that should not be profaned by the unacceptable sophistication imposed by our modern society.
As we work towards addressing this issue, we wish to caution against unnecessarily personalising the conflict in a manner that will only produce more villains and deepen the enmity and division among the different factions.
Emotions may have been sent to fever pitch, but it is now time to calm tempers and address the issue dispassionately and objectively.