The High Court in Kumasi has granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the “Paramount Chief ” of Anum, Nenye Akusiaku-Brempong Kumi Sasraku VIII, from using his gazette extract to receive rents, royalties and other revenues belonging to the Anum Traditional Area,and surrounder the purported Gazette to the Registry of the Court pending the final determination of a substantive legal dispute.
“Accordingly, the 3rd Defendant/Respondent is hereby restrained, pending the final determination of this suit or further order of this Court, from presenting the Extract from the National Register of Chiefs (Gazette) for the purpose of receiving rents, royalties or any monies due to the Anum Traditional Area.The 3rd Defendant/Respondent is ordered to deposit the said Gazette Extract at the Registry of this Honourable Court within seven (7) days from today” the Court directed.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Abdul-Razak Musah in Suit No. C12/92/23, followed an application filed by Okogyeaman Kwasi Anyane V, the Adontenhene and Acting President of the Anum Traditional Area, against the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, the National House of Chiefs, and the Chief of Anum.
The court held that the applicant had established serious and triable issues concerning the customary leadership of the Anum Traditional Council, the validity of his appointment as Acting President, the processing of chieftaincy documents, and the legality of the entry of the Anum chief’s name in the National Register of Chiefs.
Justice Musah ruled that stool lands and revenues constitute communal property held in trust for the people of the Anum Traditional Area, and that allowing the continued collection and disbursement of such revenues while the dispute remains unresolved could cause irreversible harm.
The court found that damages would not be an adequate remedy because the alleged allocation and development of stool lands could lead to the permanent alienation of communal property and trigger multiple legal disputes in the future.
In balancing the interests of the parties, the court noted that although the Anum chief remains gazetted, his status is currently under challenge before the appropriate chieftaincy forum. It therefore held that preserving communal assets outweighed any temporary inconvenience the injunction may cause.
Consequently, the court restrained the Anum chief from presenting the Extract from the National Register of Chiefs (Gazette) to any corporate or statutory institution for the purpose of receiving rents, royalties or any monies due to the Anum Traditional Area until the final determination of the suit or further orders of the court.
Justice Musah further directed the chief to deposit the Gazette Extract at the registry of the High Court within seven days.
The court clarified that the order does not determine the substantive chieftaincy dispute or decide who the lawful Paramount Chief of Anum is, explaining that the ruling is solely intended to preserve the subject matter of the litigation pending its final resolution.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this order does not determine the substantive chieftaincy dispute pending before the Judicial Committee.The substantive suit shall be set down for expedited hearing”.the court clarified.
The substantive case relates to protracted chieftaincy dispute over purported enstoolment of Nenye Akusiaku-Brempong Kumi Sasraku VIII to the vacant Anum paparamount tool following the death of Nana Appiah Kumi II, who reigned for 46 years and died in 2016.
While the cases are ongoing, he is alleged to be selling stool lands to private investors, Ghana Prison Service and recieving millions of cedis as royalties from Volta River Authority hence decision by the applicants therein obtaining restraining order against him.
Meanwhile, the Adontenhene of the Anum Traditional Area and Acting President of the Anum Traditional Council, Nenye Okogyeaman Kwasi Anyane V, cautioned individuals, companies and institutions against purchasing stool lands or making payments relating to rents and royalties until ongoing legal proceedings over the Anum Paramount Stool are finally determined.
Addressing a press conference at his palace in Anum on Wednesday, Nenye Kwasi Anyane V said the warning was necessary following a court order intended to preserve the subject matter of the dispute while substantive cases concerning the Anum Paramount Stool are heard by the appropriate judicial bodies.
He said several legal actions connected to the chieftaincy dispute are currently pending, including civil and criminal proceedings, a challenge to the gazetting of the Paramount Chief, as well as applications before the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.
According to him, the installation and subsequent gazetting of the current Paramount Chief, Nenye Akusiaku-Brempong Kumi Sasraku VIII, did not comply with the procedures required under Ghana’s chieftaincy process.
He further alleged that, in his capacity as Acting President of the Anum Traditional Council, he was neither invited to nor involved in processes leading to the forwarding of the Chieftaincy Declaration (CD) Forms to the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and subsequently the National House of Chiefs.
Nenye Kwasi Anyane V said the legitimacy of those processes forms part of the issues currently before the courts and the chieftaincy judicial system.
He therefore urged prospective land buyers and other stakeholders to exercise extreme caution and avoid transactions involving stool lands until the disputes are resolved.
“Nobody should transact any business involving stool lands until the court determines the matter. Anyone who does so does so at his or her own risk,” he cautioned.
Also speaking at the press conference, Emmanuel Djakitey Kennedy, Asene of the Atta Panyin Gate, one of the three royal gates of the Anum Traditional Area, alleged that the succession to the Anum Paramount Stool had not followed the traditional rotational arrangement.
He claimed it was the turn of the Atta Panyin Gate to occupy the Paramount Stool, but said its nominated candidate was allegedly bypassed.
“It is the turn of the Atta Panyin Gate to occupy the throne, but somebody who is not entitled to it has been enstooled. Our candidate was bypassed and we want the truth to prevail. The right thing must be done,” he said.
The dispute over the Anum Paramount Stool remains before the courts and the relevant chieftaincy judicial bodies, with the substantive issues yet to be finally determined.
Until the cases are concluded, the competing parties continue to advance their respective positions over the legitimacy of the installation, gazetting and succession to the Paramount Stool.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
