NHC initiates moves to form continental traditional leadership union

The National House of Chiefs (NHC) has initiated conversations with prominent traditional rulers on the African continent to host a conference of African Traditional Leaders in Ghana in 2021.

The conference would be used to prepare the grounds for the formation of a permanent continental body of traditional rulers to be known as Africa Traditional Leaders Union (ATLU).

A statement signed by Mr Stephen Owusu, Public Relations Officer of NHC and issued in Kumasi, said the initiative was the contribution of the NHC to bring all traditional leaders on the African continent together under one body.

According to the statement, the ATLU, which would be modelled on the lines of the African Union (AU) would further strengthen peace, unity and development among Africans.

The statement said during the second general meeting of the House in June 2020, the President Togbe Afede XIV, who is also the Agbogbemefia of Asogli, cited a crucial reason for African traditional leaders to do more to ensure continental development and peace.

It said recent events had exposed the vulnerability of the black race and it was imperative for traditional leaders on the continent to think about what they could do to complement what the political leaders were doing to further the cause of the continent.

According to the statement, the African continent had 20 percent of the world’s landmass, 30 percent of earth’s minerals resources and 17 percent of its people, yet Africa suffered mass poverty and joblessness.

It said the search for answers to these and numerous problems confronting the continent had engaged the minds of the leadership of the House, hence the decision to initiate a conversation with important traditional leaders across the African continent towards hosting a conference of Africa traditional leaders in Ghana in year 2021.

The statement said the leadership of the House had already interacted with the Ambassadors of Cote d’Iviore, Burkina Faso, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Niger, Liberia, and Botswana and would continue to contact other embassies to further discuss the issues.