Royal treason!?

The Asantehene Otumfo Osei Tutu II allegedly said in the ongoing Ghana election campaign that NPP Flagbearer Dr. Bawumia should be kindly treated as a single person alone can't turn around a country from worse to better. Ashantis like to support NPP over NDC.

Just like the strongest king of Ghana other royals and local chiefs follow party lines and their narratives. They try to influence with their traditional powers their tribes. Political parties have become more powerful than royal families and their responsibility for their tribes and the generations to come of kingdom subjects. Political parties think as long as their mandate goes for four or a maximum of eight years.

In Europe, many royal families lost their constitutional role. Some hold their nations together as Constitutional Monarchs or in local communities rally around old castles and traditions, a long-standing royal family to be seen at special traditional events. People feel sentiments toward modern-day royal families as they give them work and a sense of history and stability for the future.

For e.g. Ghana by the 1992 Constitution the Asantehene and the rest of the royal families have no constitutional rights merely a living relic of glorious past time. Yet, their subjects still look up to the good ones among them and listen to their directions on how to vote at the December 7th, 2024 election.

As these traditional rulers are prominent citizens they are part of society after all. In general and in particular, along party lines, they know behind palace walls that Ghana is down on its knees in all aspects of society. The few who feel responsible for the nation Ghana and their tribes understand that democracy is not made for Africa and all parties in the nation have failed the voters.

In the past, in such a situation the military stepped up and in to bring an end to the suffering of Ghanaians. Close political and promotion ties with the political parties make it a challenge for the military to step in and do what is demanded of them. They are well aware of the question "What next?". As military, they are not mandated nor qualified to govern a nation. This is for politicians or traditional rulers.

The Ghanaian royals who are not blind but well-educated with foresight and a loving heart for their subjects and the nation of Ghana have the time, intellectual capacity, and historic mandate to think of a better Ghana disconnected from party ideologies. Arab Spring 2011 proved to be a failure as angry people took their anger to the streets, not their brains. They were not prepared with a vision and plan for their respective countries.

Even though the power of traditional rulers in Ghana has shifted to the power of the 1992 Constitution it does not mean they should stay mute or follow party lines and echo their manifestos. If they want to be relevant still and are aware of the history of their lands and in their palaces they must come up with their own independent vision and plan for the nation of Ghana. Responsible traditional rulers do not leave this narrative in the hands of politicians or potentially the military. They envision independently a better, a brighter future for the nation. They come up with an alternative in case it is needed not wasting time to see the moment when it is needed to be implemented. If they need advice and ideas from outside their territory they only need to ask and help will be given.

The 1992 Constitution does not see this passive inactiveness as treason but in the context of the history of Ghana, it certainly is. Some might argue it is a hard judgment while others agree in the light of urgency.