‘Include chiefs in governance system’

The Paramount Chief of Asante Asokore, Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante, has called for an inclusion of chiefs in the governance system as that will accelerate national growth.

He indicated that there should be formal structures for the coordination and integration of chiefs into the development processes as they played a vital role in building developmental patterns.

Nana Krobea Asante announced this in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the Ephraim Amu Memorial Lecture held in Accra yesterday.

“Development actually falls on chiefs to do a lot of things, which are not reflected in formal structures. For example, there is no clear provision for chiefs in the participation of local government, and that is an area we can champion development projects,” he noted.

Event

The programme, which aimed at celebrating the life achievements of the late Ephraim Amu, hosted some traditional rulers, selected senior high schools, including Accra Girls and Accra Technical Training Centre, the clergy and the media.

The 2018 edition of Ephraim Amu’s Memorial Lecture Series was on the topic: “The Musings of a Chief in Contemporary Ghana.”

The event also attracted a choral group that sang and celebrated Amu’s musical compositions.

Addressing the gathering about the impacts of Ephraim’s philosophy on his life, Nana Krobea Asante mentioned that his (Ephraim) ideologies had profound impacts on his thinking.

He added that “what I would like to emphasise in Amu’s philosophy is his deep commitment to the preposition that there is something worthy in the African culture”.

According to him, Amu’s commitment urges Africans to be creative and resourceful in the pursuit of modern technology.

Have a say

Speaking on traditional legislative procedures in the country, Nana Krobea Asante said consultations with the Council of Chiefs on national issues should be properly and legally instituted to enable them to have a say in legislative affairs.

“As an administrative measure, I want the consultation to be instituted legally so that the idea of chiefs not being Members of Parliament (MP) should not prevent us from making contributions on legislative issues,” he stated.

He stressed the need for the implementation of formal mechanisms which would equip chiefs to spearhead the development agenda of their communities, pointing out that the role of the chief was to provide basic needs while ensuring development.

“If MPs are formulating policies for the well-being of their people, they should contact the chiefs who have been in that business for long, but there is no such formal mechanism to that,” he added.