Review constitutional provision on chieftaincy – Prof. Nabila
Naa Professor John S. Nabila, President of National House of Chiefs, on Wednesday called for a review of the constitutional provision which debars chiefs from active partisan politics because of their role as traditional leaders.
He said the operative word “active” was difficult to define and had often landed chiefs in political arguments or troubles for all manner of reasons.
Naa Prof. Nabila, who is also the Wulugu Naba, was speaking at the launch of a research report on: “Ghana’s Traditional Authorities in Governance and Development”, in Accra.
The research undertaken in 2009 and authored by Professor Kwame A. Ninsin, Scholar in Residence, Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), seeks to examine the extent to which the institution of chieftaincy has functioned in the governance and development sector of Ghana.
It also investigated the paradox surrounding the role of chiefs in the democratic development of Ghana following calls by chiefs for a more clearly defined role in the political governance of their areas of jurisdiction and the country’s socio-economic development.
Naa Prof. Nabila said it was time the nation critically examined the role of the chieftaincy institution in the context of modern governance to remove the current ambiguity in the constitutional provision.
He said despite the fact that the chieftaincy institution was recognised and institutionalised under the 1992 Constitution, the role of chiefs in the modern governance structure was limited in the constitution.
The Wulugu Naba argued that apart from the representations of chiefs on the Council of State, boards, corporation, regional coordinating councils and traditional councils, role of the chief was nebulous as stated in the 1992 Constitution or the Local Government Act, where invariably chiefs could be excluded from district assemblies.
Professor Ninsin said the position of chieftaincy in national development had remained unclear in the modern history of Ghana even though the institution continued to enjoy support and loyalty from a large section of the society.
He said in spite of the constitutional provision, the chieftaincy institution had not been integrated into the mainstream formal governance structures which could subject the chiefs to transparency, accountability, equity and justice as it had been for public office holders.
Professor Ninsin said though there had been growth in terms of the educated in the institution, there had not been any fundamental change in the process of selecting and installing chiefs.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Paramount Chief of Essikado, launching the report said it had come at the right time to throw more light on the confusion which seemed to emanate from the constitutional provision about the role of chiefs in the governance and development of the country.
He said chiefs even before the advent of colonialism had been instrumental in the development and the governance of their people in their traditional areas.
Nana Nketsia said the chieftaincy institution throughout its development had evolved its own structures or hierarchy from the lowest to the highest person and continued to enjoy support from majority of the people.
Source: GNA