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 surrender the purported Gazette to the Registry of the Court pending the final determination of a substantive legal dispute.
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.
The substantive case has been ordered to proceed on an expedited basis.
Addressing a press conference at his palace in Anum on Wednesday,
The Adontenhene of the Anum Traditional Area in the Eastern Region and Acting President of the Anum Traditional Council, Nenye Okogyeaman Kwasi Anyane V said individuals, companies and institutions should refrain from purchasing stool lands or making payments relating to rents and royalties until the pending legal proceedings are concluded.
According to him, the court’s order was intended to preserve the subject matter of the dispute while substantive cases concerning the Anum Paramount Stool are heard before the appropriate judicial bodies.
Kwasi Anyane V disclosed that several legal actions relating to the chieftaincy dispute are currently ongoing, including civil proceedings, criminal proceedings, a challenge to the gazetting of the Paramount Chief and other applications before the courts and the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.
He maintained that the installation and gazetting of the current Paramount Chief, Nenye Akusiaku-Brempong Kumi Sasraku VIII, did not follow the procedures required under the chieftaincy process.
He alleged that, as Acting President of the Anum Traditional Council, he was neither invited to nor involved in the 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.
He argued that the legitimacy of those processes is one of the issues currently before the courts and the chieftaincy judicial system.
The Adontenhene therefore advised prospective land buyers to exercise caution until the legal disputes are finally determined.
“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 said.
Also addressing the press conference, Emmanuel Djakitey Kennedy, Asene of the Atta Panyin Gate, one of three royal gates of the Anum Traditional Area, alleged that the succession to the Anum Paramount Stool had not followed the traditional rotational arrangement.
According to him, it was the turn of the Atta Panyin Gate to occupy the Paramount Stool, but 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 chieftaincy dispute over the Anum Paramount Stool remains before both the courts and the appropriate chieftaincy judicial bodies, with the substantive matters yet to be determined.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com
