Mr Justice Eric Baah, a Ho Supervising High Court Judge has appealed to traditional leaders to equip themselves with the judicial procedures to enable them properly adjudicate cases brought before them.

He said arbitration by chiefs helped take pressure off the judicial system, but noted that the Service was inundated with cases that had gone through traditional courts.

Justice Baah, made the call when he swore in a reconstituted 100-member Volta Regional House of Chiefs.

“Chiefs have to be abreast with rules governing arbitration. If the rules are properly followed your decisions would be upheld”, he said.

Justice Baah called for workshops to enable the traditional authorities to become conversant with the procedures of arbitration work.

Mr Harry Attipoe, Registrar of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that Chiefs periodically benefit from some training programmes and was hopeful that stakeholders would be more available and regular.

The reconstitution of the House was made necessary by the passage of Legislative Instrument (LI) 2409 of 2020 in July, which paved the way for the creation of the House of Chiefs for the six new regions.

Mr Kofi Dzamesi, Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs expressed sincere gratitude to stakeholders including the leadership of the National House for the speedy passage of the legislative instrument and said its success testified to the “collaborative effort between traditional authority and government.”

Togbe Afede XIV, President of the National House of Chiefs said despite the impact of COVID-19 on timelines, all Regional Houses must endeavor to reconstitute and elect leaders by mid-October, to make way for the National House elections in November.