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JUDGMENT
MAJORITY OPINIONS
JONES DOTSE, J.S.C.
Article 277 of the Constitution, 1992 provides as follows:-“A Chief is a person w ho hailing from the appropriate fam ily and
lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled,
enskinned or installed as a Chief or queen mother in accordance with
relevant customary law and usage.”
The Chieftaincy Act, 2008 (Act 759) also repeats verbatim the said definition of a
Chief in section 57 (1) thereof.
From the above definition of a Chief, the following are essential ingredients and
pre-requisites:-
i. The person must qualify to be a Chief, in that, he or she must hail from
the appropriate family or lineage. In other words, to qualify to be a
Chief, you must first be a royal to start with.
See also article 181 of the Constitution 1979 which also defined a chief in pari
materia as the definition in article 277 of the Constitution 1992 already referred
to supra. Despite the fact that the P.N.D.C Establishment Proclamation abrogated
the Constitution, 1979, the same Proclamation recognised and retained the
definition of a Chief contained in article 181 of the Constitution 1979.
This was the position until P.N.D.C Law 107 was enacted in 1985 which
purported to amend section 48 (1) of the Chieftaincy Act, 1970, Act 370. It is
unclear whether the amendment of this section 48 (1) & (2) of Act 370 by
P.N.D.C Law 107 had any effect, since the retention of the original constitutional
provision retaining article 181 of the Constitution 1979 was contained in the
P.N.D.C Establishment Proclamation 1981 as amended by P.N.D.C Law 42,
section 53 (2) thereof.
In terms of interpretation, an ordinary statute like P.N.D.C law 107 cannot
amend the P.N.D.C Establishment Proclamation. It follows therefore that the
definition of a chief as contained in article 181 of the Constitution 1979
continued during all times material to the circumstances of this case, up to and
including the coming into force of the Constitution 1992 on 7th January 1992.
The definition of a chief contained in article 277 of the Constitution 1992 will
therefore be deemed applicable to the status of a chief at all times material to
the circumstances of this case.
ii. The person must have been nominated as a Chief.
iii. The person must have been elected or selected as a Chief and finally
iv. The person must have been taken through the ceremony of enstoolment,
enskinnment or installation as a Chief according to the relevant cu