33 AFRICAN CONSULTANTS MEET IN KUMASI

The President of the National House of Chiefs, Nana Oduro Numapau, has said the Chieftaincy institution is not alien to issues concerning gender balance. He said in spite of the fact that Queenmothers are not seen in the top hierarchy of the Chieftaincy Institution at the national level, queenmothers are still highly regarded as custodians of rich cultural knowledge and cannot therefore be ignored . Nana Oduro Numapau was speaking in Kumasi during a visit to the National Secretariat by a 33 member Organisation Development Consultants, from twelve African countries. The Consultants are on a one month study tour of the country as part of a two year programme being organised by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) . It is being sponsored by two German NGO's, the German Development Organisation and the Association for Cooperation and Development. The visit offered the consultants the opportunity to study Ashanti Culture and soviet values especially, its unique leadership style and its impact on the Socio-Economic development of the people. Nana Oduro Numapau said the various traditional councils can boast of highly educated queenmothers. He, however admitted that some of the regions have to date no properly instutionalised forum of queenmothers. This he said makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the House of Chiefs to accept queenmothers. He said the unique role queenmothers play in the traditional administration, dispensation of justice and the installation of chiefs points to the fact that they are indispensable. The Private Secretary of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware, Mr.. J.Y. Andoh said the sense of unity that brought Ashantis together under one umbrella during the Asante Empire, still exists. What has changed, however, is the mode of administration occasioned by the modern system of government handed down to us by the colonial powers. The organiser of the Programme Miss Marion Keih was happy about the visit and urged traditional rulers to remain as instruments of cultural change and stay out of partisan politics. End