During the First Republic
Competition to be appointed Chief drove many aspirants to become
prominent ruling party supporters so that they would be appointed by
the President. Alkalo who fell out of favour left vacuum which
prominent party stalwarts struggled for. This created a dilemma for
the Government. Hence to maintain all the aspirants in their fold they
introduced limited franchise/elections where compound owners were
allowed to vote for Chief or Alkalo whenever there was any dispute.
Even though no law provided for elections vote by compound heads
became the practice.
During the Constitutional review exercise the drafters decided to
introduce the elective principle in filling the post of Chief which
had to be done within 120 days of becoming vacant. All voters in a
District or village were qualified to vote in Chieftaincy or
Alkaloship elections .The relevant provisions in the Constitution
before the amendment in 2001 used to reads:
“An election to fill a vacancy in the office of District Chief shall
be held within one hundred and twenty days of the date that the
vacancy occurred.”
When the provision was applied to hold Chieftaincy elections in Sami
District, the Candidate favoured by the ruling party lost. The APRC
utilised its Parliamentary majority to amend sections 58 and 59 of the
Constitution to remove the elective principle. Now the President has
absolute power to appoint a District Seyfo in consultation with the
Minister for regional administration. The Minister for Regional
Administration is to appoint an “Alkalo” in consultation with the
Governor and District “Seyfo.”
The provisions read: “(1) The Secretary of State responsible for Local
Government shall appoint an “Alkalo” in consultation with the Regional
Governor and District “Seyfo.”
“(2) The Secretary of State shall, in making an appointment under
subsection (1), take into account traditional lines of inheritance.
(1) The Secretary of State responsible for Local Government shall
appoint an “Alkalo” in consultation with the Regional Governor and
District “Seyfo.”
Now, it is being reported that compound owners have made a decision to
select an “Alkalo” for Kuntaur Fula Kunda.
The amended version counsels the Minister to take traditional lines of
inheritance into consideration.
