SC@150: 1992 Constitution Entrenches Chieftaincy As Co-Equal Pillar Of Governance – Otumfuo
The Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described the institution of chieftaincy as a co-equal pillar of Ghana’s governance architecture.
According to His Majesty, they are not merely an institution tolerated by the modern state.
His Majesty cited Article 270, which guarantees customary law and usage, at the second lecture of the Judiciary’s series marking the 150th Anniversary of the Supreme Court on July 16, 2026.
“The 1992 Constitution marks the decisive turning point in this long history,” His Majesty stated.
“Article 270 guarantees the institution of chieftaincy, together with its traditional councils, as established by customary law and usage, and expressly forecloses Parliament from legislating in a manner that detracts from or derogates from the honour and dignity of the institution.”
His Majesty noted that while the Constitution provides recognition, it has fallen to the Traditional Councils’ Judicial Committees and ultimately the Supreme Court to give that recognition practical content.
The Asantehene observed that over the decades the Supreme Court had developed substantial jurisprudence on chieftaincy matters, including determining the exclusive jurisdiction of Judicial Committees under Articles 273 and 274, adjudicating stool and skin succession disputes, and handling perennial cases over stool lands.
In these, His Majesty said the Court has acted “not as a rival to Nananom, but, at its best, as a steadying institutional partner”.
“Where custom is unclear, contested, or has evolved, the Court has increasingly recognised its own institutional humility, deferring to those with lived and inherited knowledge of the custom in question while standing ready to intervene where fundamental rights are genuinely at stake,” His Majesty said.
His Majesty was, however, candid about challenges in the relationship, citing delays in resolving chieftaincy disputes, some spanning generations, which have undermined public confidence and left communities without settled leadership.
Otumfuo also pointed to overlapping and occasionally uncertain jurisdictional lines between regular courts and Judicial Committees, which continue to generate satellite litigation.
“These are not indictments of either institution,” His Majesty noted. “They are the honest growing pains of two systems of authority still learning fully to speak one constitutional language.”
Story by Hajara Fuseini
Click to read more: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/
