Chief appeals to the government to reposition chiefs

Tamale, Jan 19, GNA - A traditional ruler on Friday appealed to the government to reposition the Regional Houses of Chiefs in the ''right perspective'' to enable them to promote development in their traditional areas. Kpembewura Alhaji Harruna Kabasibi, chief of Kpembe in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region, said when the Houses of Chiefs were under the Local Government they were given financial assistance to undertake development activities. He said since they were made autonomous under the 1992 Constitution the financial support had ceased, a situation, which was drawing back development in their traditional areas and called on the government to intervene.

The Kpembewura, who represented the Northern Region House of Chiefs at a day's regional consultative forum in Tamale on: "The formula for distribution of the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF)", said chiefs in the past were given funds to help them carry out their traditional roles "but the story is now different."

Action Aid Ghana, a British NGO that sponsored the forum that brought together about 150 participants, including representatives from the 13 District Assemblies of the Northern Region, civil society organisations, NGOs, as well as chiefs and heads of departments.

Kpembewura Kabasisbi, a Northern Regional Minister in the Third Republic, added his voice to the call for an upward review of the five per cent allocation from the national budget to the District Assemblies' Common Fund to enable the districts to function more effectively. He said since its inception the Common Fund had attracted mixed public interests and that it is necessary to work out the modalities easy enough for every one to understand its disbursement.

Mr Issah Ketekewu, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said the government had made it possible for chiefs to access funding from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and called on the chiefs to lobby for such funds.

Mr. Gabriel Yaw Amoah, chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the District Assembly Common Fund, expressed disappointment about the late arrival and total absence of some DCEs at the forum. He said at the start of proceedings none of the 13 DCEs from the region was present adding that only five of them came when proceedings had almost ended. "Judging from the poverty level in the region I thought the DCEs would be the first to attend the forum but unfortunately, they disappointed me."

Mr. Amoah said instead of the DCEs taking advantage of the forum to offer their inputs they failed to attend "but they are always the first to accuse the sector Ministry whenever the funds are delayed, and I urge them to be serious with future forums."