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Members of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs (GARHC) have threatened to demonstrate against the Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Seidu Daanaa, should he ignore their appeal to let their registrar stay in the region.

Nene Kanor Atiapah III, acting paramount chief for Ningo Traditional Area, said Harry Anthony Attipoe, the GARHC Registrar, had worked very hard to ensure sanity in all the traditional areas in the region.

“The immense peace we are enjoying in our various traditional areas is as a result of the hard work and constant workshops on conflict resolution that Harry Attipoe has been taking the paramount chiefs in the region through,” Nene Atiapah III explained.

Sounding very angry during a media interaction at Dodowa, at the GARHC head office, Nene Kanor Atiapah III said the House was aware of a transfer letter the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs had sent to Mr Attipoe to start work in the Volta Region with immediate effect.

That transfer, he said, was one that would affect the operations of the House “because we know the contributions the registrar has been doing to ensure that Greater Accra chiefs enjoyed total peace.”

The move by the sector Minister to get the registrar out, Nene warned, would force the chiefs to hit the streets of Accra in a vehement protest, saying that the GARHC also deserved to enjoy the long service of a hardworking and visionary registrar.

“What is more, Attipoe has few years to go on retirement and so what is the need in rushing to transfer him?” Nene Atiapah III posed.

Meanwhile, Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III, President of the GARHC, has issued a press release petitioning President John Dramani Mahama to intervene in the transfer of their hardworking registrar.

He said the House was shocked to receive a letter from the sector Minister on August 12, 2016 transferring Harry Anthony Attipoe to the Volta Region.

What necessitated the Minister to transfer Mr Attipoe, Nene Akuaku III said, followed some unfounded allegations and demonstration by some youth of Kpone Traditional Council that the GARHC registrar had collected and pocketed $5 million from the Sunon Asogli Power producers.

The registrar had additional oversight responsibilities for the Kpone Traditional Council. Nene Akuaku III explained that Sunon Asogli Power wrote to the Minister on April 27 to deny the allegation by the agitated youth.

He said they were stakeholders in the affairs of the country and so the House was disappointed that the Minister failed to hear their side before hastily serving Harry Attipoe with the transfer letter.

“The Minister could not do this following an ultimatum given him by a Coalition of Ga-Dangbe Youth in a letter the group served him on August 1.

“The Minister should have granted us audience as respected stakeholders in the development of the region and the nation as a whole, unless the Minister and Chief of Staff are telling us as chiefs that we do not matter in the affairs of the region,” the GARHC President indicated.

Nene Akuaku III said they would not welcome the registrar’s transfer. He said: “Your Excellency, we are hereby petitioning you to immediately reconsider the unfortunate decision taken by Dr Seidu Daanaa and retain Mr Attipoe as the registrar of the GARHC.”