Let's establish a royal college for Chiefs- I C. Quaye

Dodowa (G/R), May 14, GNA- Sheikh I. C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister on Monday called for the establishment of a Royal College for Chiefs where they would learn and deliberate effectively on local governance issues.

He said the establishment of such an institution was of age because chiefs had for a long time been excluded form governance issues with the excuse that, "traditional rulers should not engage in active partisan politics".

"Governance is politics and if you stay away from politics then you are abandoning your constitutional right to engage in participatory democracy and local governance," Sheikh Quaye told the chiefs and some representatives of the Ga Traditional Councils within the Greater Accra Region at a regional stakeholders seminar.

The two-day regional stakeholders' seminar is on; "The Interface between Traditional Authorities and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies".

It is to fashion out a strategy to give chiefs and queenmothers more organised opportunity to play a more active role in the District Assembly concept.

Also attending the seminar are five District Chief Executives from the Region namely, the Ga East, Ga West, Dangbe East, Dangbe West and Tema Municipal Assemblies.

Sheikh Quaye said because of the erroneous impression by some chiefs about their engagement in politics, "They decide to sit on the fence unconcerned, most often out of fear."

"I would support all efforts towards the establishment of the Royal College because training and education in the relevant governance and administrative skills is a necessary condition for effective participation of our traditional rulers in our local government system," he said.

He said it was for security reasons, especially that, chiefs foster greater peace and unity within their communities that governments prohibited traditional rulers from active partisan politics, but not politics in totality, because governance is politics.

"A chief or Queenmother, who is an open and enthusiastic supporter of a political party would obviously lose the support of members of other parties in his or her community, " the Regional Minister said. Mr Kwesi Boakye Boateng, Deputy Director, Institute of Local Government Studies, said he supported the interfacing of traditional political systems with local government systems, especially with regards to setting aside a certain percentage of the total membership of the district Assemblies for traditional authorities.

He advocated that nomination of members to the assembly be done and voted on by traditional authorities, adding that, a bi-annual meeting between traditional authorities and the executive committee on the status of implementation of District Assembly plans should be put in place. Mr. Micheal Adjorweh-Nortey, Dangbe West District Chief Executive in his welcoming address said, it was important that the traditional authorities were involved in the local governance concept, because without the co-operation of the traditional authorities, the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies cannot work effectively.