The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) is Wrong on the Institution of Chieftaincy in Ghana

It is not surprising that the CRC is wrong on the Institution of Chieftaincy on three fronts, namely (1) Representation and Participation in Politics; (2) Direct Elections of Municipal and Metropolitan District Chief Executives (MMDCEs); and (3) Grassroots Leadership. Let me elaborate.

Representation and Participation in Politics

On page 120 of its report presented to the ruling government, the CRC “recommends that the current provision of Article 276 precluding Chiefs, including queen mothers, from participating in active party politics be retained”. This phrase of Chiefs not participating in active politics has outlived its usefulness given development as a transformational process is predominantly political requiring energetic participation to meet targeted goals. The CRC recommendation is non-commonsensical because anyone going into a battle uses its best foot forward and here the institution with the inherent capacity to communicate, mobilize and organize for collective endeavors is expected to play a backseat role regardless “all development is local.”

Direct Election of MMDCEs
The abysmal performance of the nation’s local government arrangements is a systemic leadership design anomaly than either partisan or non-partisan direct elections of MMDCEs. There is no ambiguity in Ghana that universal adult suffrage via competitive partisan elections regardless of inherent flaws is the acceptable means of representation and participation in governance at the national level. What is contentious is the governance and leadership designs at the local level. With the 1992 Constitution, the norm has been appointment of the MMDCEs, and the nonpartisan elections of the corresponding assembly and unit committee members as the major actors. As Ghana is branded globally as the ‘beacon of democracy,’ it is expected that the CRC would strengthen its democratic credentials by recommending local governance designs based on the core principles and values of the nation’s civilizations. The persistence of poverty and the vicissitude of the poor majority continue to be an indelible mark on the capability to stem the tide and lead the country out of the abyss of deprivations amid relatively endowed human, natural, and material resources. A critical factor underpinning this scenario is the back seat role assigned the institution with the capability of energizing the vast majority to participate vigorously in development efforts of the nation.

Grassroots Leadership (GL)
GL is essential for transforming a country which laments a total breakdown of its moral fiber, and has a youthful population that is vulnerable, idle and does not bother to dig under dwelling places for livelihood because no alternative options are available. Prominent members of the society including the Asantehene, and the Minister responsible for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs have argued that if chiefs are empowered, this phenomenon of digging underneath buildings for livelihoods mainly by the youthful population can be curbed. This has made the extent of empowerment of chiefs a fundamental issue to be addressed by the nation, and examine related critical questions in the process of building institutions for tackling prevailing challenges, and not stifling institutions nurtured by the majority and which have been resilient for several centuries.

Way Forward
On the way forward, the present administration needs to treat this issue as a fundamental stand-alone one, and provide guidance on the empowerment of the institution of chieftaincy with essential questions such as what kind of empowerment – legal, administrative, and financial, because the extent will determine effectiveness.

By Dr. Kofi V. Anani
The author is the founder and manager of the Blended Knowledge Solutions Network (www.bksnetworg.org) Details of the views expressed here are contained in the publications titled “Leadership in Independent Africa: Six Decades On: The Blended Representation Principles as a Cuse for Afro-Optimism (London :Zed Books, 2024).

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