Visiting South Sudan chiefs call on Volta Region House of Chiefs - Vibe Ghana

A delegation of chiefs and government officials from South Sudan on a visit to Ghana on Monday, interacted with members of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs (VRHC) in Ho.

The import of the interaction was to enable the visiting team to learn about the customs, values and traditional governing structures of the people in the region.

At a durbar in honour of the 21-member delegation, Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) in South Africa, who accompanied the team, said the visit was necessary to help South Sudan re-build its structures and chieftaincy institution destroyed by 50 years of war.

Mr Tor Deng Mawien, Leader of the delegation, said some years ago, “we were Arabs by force but now, we are happy to be proud Africans,” and called for support from African countries to re-build South Sudan.

“We are building a new baby nation. We are number 54 and seek your assistance for rapid growth,” he said.

Mr Mawien said South Sudan particularly requested assistance in ways of maintaining law and order in rural communities and administration of justice at the community level.

He said another issue of importance for South Sudan was the role of chiefs in local government.

Mr Mawien commended the Regional House of Chiefs for the warm reception and said they felt very much at home.

Mr James Lual, South Sudan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations and a former guerrilla fighter, expressed admiration at traditional dances performed by some local groups and said, “this cultural heritage is not for you only but all Africa”.

“We feel very much at home here even more than being in Khartoum,” he stated.

Mr Henry Ametepe, Caretaker Minister for Volta Region, commended the delegation for the determination to re-build their country and underscored the importance for Africans to maintain their cultural values.

Togbe Afede XIV, President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, congratulated the people of South Sudan on their success in fighting for independence and freedom.

He said Ghana had a well established chieftaincy institution, which works closely with state institutions to ensure good democratic governance.

Togbe Afede said apart from maintaining law and order in communities, chiefs in the country took development initiatives towards the wellbeing of their people and urged South Sudan to emulate that.

He asked them to make laws that clearly show lines of succession for chiefs to forestall chieftaincy disputes.

Togbe Afede also advised the delegation to urge the South Sudan’s Parliament to make laws that provided adequate funding for their chieftaincy institution to make it independent of government to some extent.

He pledged the support of the Regional House of Chiefs towards efforts at re-building South Sudan.

The delegation made up of two kings and four chiefs visited South Africa and Botswana before coming to Ghana.

In Ghana, the delegation visited Akropong in the Eastern Region and Nungua in the Greater Accra Region before coming to the Volta Region. GNA