Drama unfolded in Obuasi in the Ashanti region when The Chronicle, in its yesterday’s edition, published a story, which quoted Richard Akwasi Ofori Boadi Agyemang, Municipal Chief Executive for labeling chiefs as “noise makers”.
According to the story, the Obuasi MCE said the chiefs, in their bid to ensure moral uprightness among government officials, sometimes go off board and raise issues against the president’s representatives in the various Metropolitans, Municipals and Districts (MMDs).
He noted: “Nowadays if you are a government official and you are not careful in the discharge of your duty, in relation to traditional leaders, the next thing they will say is that you are banned from the traditional council.”
The MCE, the paper continued, said Nananom would continue to mount pressure on the President to change the MMCE they think has offended them.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Committee of Movement of Informal Miners on Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) at Obuasi, in the presence of Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II, Adansihene, he noted that looking at the traditional set up in the Ashanti region, political appointees are careful, taking into consideration the kind of power traditional leaders wield.
Mr Ofori Agyemang was, therefore, not happy about the stance of the chiefs, saying he is afraid to cause the arrest of illegal mining operators in the area, because big chiefs are involved. When the story was published, the MCE became furious, hurling insults and curses on The Chronicle reporter who broke the story.
It is an undisputed fact that chiefs in Ghana are highly respected because they are the embodiment of our Traditions and Culture and, therefore, cannot be treated as mere members of the society.
Even in the colonial days, chiefs were seen as rallying points for the people, means of passing on information, led their people to battles, perform the executive function of the day-to-day running of their chiefdoms, made laws and settled disputes among their subjects.
Thus, they combined the functions of the three arms of government, which makes them the embodiment and custodians of our culture and tradition.
Since the inception of the local government decentralization policy in 1987 and the return to constitutional rule in 1992, The role of chiefs in Ghana and in the democratization process cannot be over emphasized,
Article 276 of the 1992 constitution bars Chiefs from active partisan politics, however, Article 89 clauses 2(b) made provision for them to have their representative in the council of state; which is the advisory body to the President.
The framers of the fourth republican constitution, notwithstanding the history of chieftaincy in Ghana, thought it wise to keep these traditional leaders out of active party politics, because they did not want the respectable chiefs to lose the respect they command.
It is worthy to note that chiefs, aside their roles in the democratic dispensation perform very important tasks in the socio-economic development of the country.
For example, the Asantihene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has established education fund and gives scholarships to thousands of Ghanaians from various ethnic backgrounds to access education at the secondary and tertiary levels. Other chiefs have also contributed their quota to the development of the country through the creation of jobs and setting up football clubs.
It is as a result of this that The Chronicle wants to call on the government to provide special training sessions for all government appointees on how to relate with our chiefs. They must be made to bear in mind that their roles are complimentary to that of the chiefs and whose authority they must hold in high esteem.