DOCUMENTATION OF CUSTOMARY LAW VITAL- DR.DAANNAA

15-10-09 DOCUMENTATION OF CUSTOMARY LAW VITAL- DR.DAANNAA

A legal Anthropologist and Director of Research, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, Dr. H.S Daannaa has reiterated the need to ascertain and document customary law governing family and land issues of the various communities in the country. He emphasized that since customary lands support the livelihoods of the majority of the population, the sustainable management of such lands is critical to the socio-economic development of the country. Dr. Daannaa was speaking at a validation workshop on the ascertainment and codification of customary law report at Paga in the Upper East Region. The project which is being undertaken by the National House of Chiefs and the Law Reform Commission with support from the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) brought together a section of the public as well as chiefs and elders from the Paga Traditional Area. Isaac Asare was there for Radio Ghana and has sent this report.

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The workshop was to validate the findings of data collected from the Paga Traditional area in order to engage the respondents to finally assess the outcome of the information collated by the research teams for correction and ratification. Dr. J.S Daannaa in a remark said even though the customary law is an important law in Ghana, the contents of the rules and practices of any particularly community are not clear, thus resulting to uncertainty, adding that lack of certainty in the customary and conflicting accounts of customary law rules, contribute significantly to family and land disputes in the country. He explained that gaps in the knowledge of customary law particularly family law which forms a vital part of the lives of Ghanaians accounts for the high incidence of chieftaincy disputes, hence the need for proper documentation and ascertainment of customary law governing family law issues in communities across the regions. The Executive Secretary of the Joint Steering Committee of the Ascertainment and Codification of Customary Law Project, Mrs. Sheila Minka-Premo, in a release signed hinted that her outfit would organize a regional and national validation exercise in the country since data collection in all the 20 selected traditional areas is almost completed. The Paramount Chief of Paga, Pio Awampaga commended the Joint Steering Committee for chosing the Paga traditional area as the pilot phase among the 20 selected traditional areas from all the 10 regions of the country for the collection of data. He stated that the outcome of the research project on land and family in Ghana coupled with the recommendations made will help assist in the settlement of disputes and bring more transparency in land transactions for development. He pledged his unflinching support for the committee and urge d them to take similar projects in the area.
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