Asantehene urges traditional rulers to involve in governance

Kumasi, June 2, GNA - The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11 has called for greater involvement of chiefs in the governance of the country towards national development.

He said the chieftaincy institution should be considered as an effective partner in the development and growth of the country. Otumfuo Osei Tutu made the call at a meeting of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs in Kumasi on Thursday.

He said there was the need to determine the relationship between chieftaincy and the government and called on the authorities to establish an institution to address the concerns of chiefs. The Asantehene expressed worry about the way chiefs were being sidelined in the determination of projects and decision making at the local levels and said traditional rulers were not often consulted in the nomination of the thirty per cent of members of the district assemblies as required by law.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said chieftaincy was a permanent institution, which identified itself with the people and there was therefore, the need for chiefs to be involve in all aspects of governance at the local level.

He urged the government to give practical support to the regional houses of chiefs to enable them to perform their statutory functions effectively.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu urged chiefs to demand for opportunities to enable them to play their roles effectively to make them more relevant in modern society.

He also deplored the attitude of some chiefs who lobbied for political positions for their favourites and said such attitude undermined their authority and weakened their ability to point out the flaws of government appointees.