The African Traditional Leadership Institute (ATLI): A Grassroots Responsibility for Good

1. The precursor analytical framework of ATLI is the Blended Representation Principle (BRP) which highlights how Western democracy model can be augmented with the institution of Chieftaincy in Africa. The book on the BRP approach by this author is titled Leadership in Independent Africa, Six Decades On is open access and can be accessed freely at www.bloomsbury.com was released earlier this year.

2. The ATLI was conceived by Togbe Afede XIV, the parament chief of Asogli State of Ho in Ghana. It has been constructed with the mindset that if Africa is to tackle its cardinal problem of fragmentation of its people, (considered by many thought leaders as the roots of all continental ills), then the institution of Chieftaincy must play a more forefront role in development transformation efforts than currently is the case across the continent. The mission of ATLI is to complement the Africa Union (AU) in its efforts of “building the Africa we want” – Agenda 2063, a blueprint for shared prosperity through peace, integration, and unity of the continent.

3. The ATLI initiative is based on the need to (a) incorporate culture into Africa’s development transformation efforts; (b) strategically adapt the phenomenon of ‘population overhang’ to tackle fragmentation of African peoples; (c) urgently curb continent-wide moral and ethical decay in society; (d) boost grassroots enthusiasm for continental endeavors; and (e) utilize altruistic competency capital values for collective engagements.

4. Main tools of engagement are advocacy, policy advisory services, and evidence-based strategy formulations. Targets will include: ruling political elites, religious leaders, public officials in the administrative bureaucracy, corporate and private sector operatives, community actors, and the media both conventional and social. Immediate operational focus is to publicize the ATLI initiatives, and undertake interventions to curb the alarming widespread menace of moral and ethical decay in society with the latter targets involving the institution of chieftaincy itself, and the youth across the continent. Wherever appropriate and feasible, the interventions will be undertaken in collaboration with stakeholders and agencies well-versed in issues of the landscape. Such intuitive realism will influence and shape overall partnership strategy – local, national, and global which belie the ATLI initiative.

5. The ATLI has been incorporated in Ghana and governed initially by a 5-member Board of Executives with Togbe Afede XVI as the President. Its Secretariat is at the World Trade Center in Accra, and the day-to-day management is handled by this author serving as the CEO, and Dr. John C. Afele, a member of the Executive Committee. Other members of the Board include: Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area, Sekondi, Western Region of Ghana, and Professor Raymond Atuguba, Dean of Ghana Law School, University of Ghana, Legon. These people have committed to the responsibility of mobilizing grassroots support aimed at finding solutions to the fragmentation of the African peoples. It is in this context that the ATLI complementing efforts of the AU is a catalyzing step for the common good.

By Dr. Kofi V. Anani