SC@150: Otumfuo Calls For Urgent Reform Of Chieftaincy Adjudication System

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, has called for the urgent modernisation of the machinery for chieftaincy adjudication.

Speaking at the second lecture of the Judiciary’s series marking the 150th Anniversary of the Supreme Court on July 16, 2026, Otumfuo said Judicial Committees of the Houses of Chiefs must be resourced, trained, and where necessary, reformed to ensure disputes are resolved with speed and finality.

His Majesty warned that delays in resolving stool and skin disputes are denying stability to entire communities.

“If we are honest in honouring the past and clear-eyed in celebrating the present, we must be equally deliberate in defining the future,” he said.

“Justice delayed in matters of stool and skin is not merely justice denied to individual claimants; it is stability denied to entire communities.”

The King stated that the current system of chieftaincy adjudication requires urgent attention to meet the expectations of litigants and communities.

The Asantehene proposed that members of Judicial Committees be given the necessary training and support to handle cases efficiently, and that structural reforms be considered where gaps exist.

Otumfuo also stressed the need for greater doctrinal clarity on the boundaries between the exclusive jurisdiction of the Judicial Committees and that of the regular courts, particularly the Superior Courts’ supervisory and appellate roles.

According to His Majesty, continued dialogue between the Bench, the Bar, and the Houses of Chiefs is essential to achieving that clarity. “Dialogues of the kind this very occasion exemplifies are essential to that clarity,” His Majesty noted.

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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