Seminar discusses role of chiefs in achieving MDGs

Accra, April 20, GNA - Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, on Friday said if chiefs were able to develop effective strategies and implementation, the status of the country would change from a developing one to a middle-income country by 2015.

For this reason, the minister said government would give the chiefs the necessary push considering their roles in development, dispute management, preservation of cultural heritage, among others that had direct linkages to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking at a Tripartite Seminar on the Role of Chiefs in achieving the MDGs, Mr. Boafo said, "for this reason government has increased allowances of chiefs by 150 percent and has granted approval for the acquisition of cross country vehicles for National House of Chiefs and the ten regional houses of chiefs".

Culture, he said formed the basis of almost all development policies and since chiefs were custodians of culture, "it behooves on us to involve Nananom in the in the formulation of our development policies."

He congratulated the Konrad Adenaeur Foundation (KAS) for identifying the unique role of Nananom to organize this seminar for them".

He said the role of chiefs in achievements of the MDGs could not be overlooked since the thematic areas of the MDGs had linkages to everyday development objectives as well as our way of life, adding, that the tripartite seminar was therefore welcomed by government. Senior Programme Manager, KAS, Isaac Owusu-Mensah said all the eight goals of the MDGs, including eradicating extreme hunger, poverty and promoting gender equality and women empowerment were some of the issues chiefs had over the centuries engaged themselves in.

He reiterated that Ghana would not achieve the MDGs if traditional authorities who were frontline development agents were not part of the process towards the achievements.

He called on stakeholders in the MDG to involve chiefs, at all levels, from the community to the national house of chiefs and every part of the country.

"As our minimal contributions to this call, we have organized similar workshop with the National Commission on Culture to diagnose the cultural element of the MDGs to ascertain the role of culture in the achievement of the goals. They have led development projects and programmes... aspiration of the people, so why not the MDGs?" Professor John Nabila Wulugunaba, Chairman, Research Committee, National House of Chiefs who presented a paper on the Role of chiefs and the achievement of the MDGs said the chieftaincy institution was still recognized and institutionalized in almost all national constitutions, especially those of 1969, 1979, and 1992.

The resilience of the institution and the strong degree of culture bondage with local communities has made it possible for the institution to stand the test of time, he said.

The survival of the institution, he said therefore, depended on chiefs themselves and all those who claim to be royals throughout the country.

"Chiefs have been given the mandate; it is left to them to prove that they are equal to the task", he added.

He, among other things touched on the codification of lines of successors and noted that there was no doubt that the lack of it in all traditional areas would continue to create succession problems for the survival of the institution.

On research, Prof. Wulugunaba said the responsibility of the National House of Chiefs as required by the constitution was extensive and without funding there could never be any meaningful achievement in that area because the resource base at the national, regional and traditional level was woefully inadequate.

He asked that all efforts should be made to expedite action on the new Chieftaincy Act since the current Act 370, in many ways, was not in tune with provisions of the 1992 constitution. Chieftaincy, he said, has had no doubt played its role in national development and good governance in the country for the past fifty years and the 1992 constitution had provided the platform for chiefs to make a great impact on the destiny of the nation. He however said that there was more work to be done in order to minimize or eliminate the numerous chieftaincy and land disputes in the country and noted that this called for the collective effort of chiefs to ensure the survival of the institution. He expressed the hope that future generations would "inherit a coherent and strengthened institution of chieftaincy from us". 20 April 07