Planner proposes reorganization of chieftaincy institution for development

A former consultant to the National House of Chiefs and Development Planner, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, has called on the new chieftaincy and political leadership to adopt a compelling vision to creatively utilize chieftaincy institution as Ghana’s home-grown vehicle for community development.

He says without such an initiative to move chieftaincy from being spectators to active players in development, the constitutional guarantee of chieftaincy would not be sufficient to consolidate chieftaincy and its relevance to Ghana’s development.

“Community development is currently at a crossroads and chieftaincy is potentially the next wave for exploring a home-grown communal development model,” said Mr. Azongo.

He noted that the chieftaincy Development challenge is not about the quest for development-oriented Chiefs, but how to give a strategic development orientation to the entire institution of chieftaincy in community development intermediation.

He has in the process called on the leadership of Chieftaincy from both the Houses of Chiefs and the Chieftaincy Ministry to shift focus from disputes, succession and welfare issues to the fundamental issue of charting a home-grown development expression to the institution as a mass-economic development vehicle.

He says the challenge confronting the Chieftaincy institution and the nation is not so much of chieftaincy disputes, welfare and succession  issues as is currently the pre-occupation of chieftaincy and political leadership, but  charting a definite role for traditional leadership in the current national development process.

The Agbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, who was recently elected as the new President of the National House of Chiefs, is seeking to restore the reverence associated with the chieftaincy institution.

President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, has also reiterated his interest to involve the chieftaincy institution in his administration’s governance of the country.

Mr. Azongo’s new paper titled “The Chieftaincy Manifesto, Agenda for Development”, is written to awaken chieftaincy and political leadership consciousness on the development importance of chieftaincy and planning and policy related recommendations required to re-organize the institution of chieftaincy along a development path.

“The Chieftaincy Manifesto provides a synoptic view of various development models, and a scholarly verdict of these models in the African development landscape from which lessons could be shopped to shape the chieftaincy development enterprise in Ghana and Africa,” he said. 

He has also charged the public to refrain from questioning the relevance of the Chieftaincy institution in modern times, but rather concentrate on how to make the institution more relevant to socio-economic development.

“There is no fixed world to be uncovered through modernity but a search for a workable system of development that meets the needs of our people and the unborn generation, and not what other jurisdiction defines as modernity for Africa,” he observed. “The fact that chieftaincy is time-tested and community-based means that it is better placed to sustain community development if the institution is given the requisite development orientation”. 

To question the relevance of chieftaincy is tantamount to questioning the relevance of our culture, identity and shared-values as a people, noted the development planner.

He has recommended a Multi-Frontal leadership approach, a division of responsibilities, where the President of the Houses of Chiefs focuses predominantly on charting a development cause for the institution, whilst the Vice-Presidency settles on the traditional role of welfare, disputes and succession.

The same template, he admonished, could be rolled out for the Ministry of Chieftaincy to prioritize policy and planning actions for the development of the chieftaincy institution.

Mr. Azongo has also proposed the adoption of the 1^st Chieftaincy Development Decade (2017-2027) underpinned by its own unique development theme to determine the direction of leadership towards the common development goal.

According to him, the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs should be cast as the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Development to align with the new development trajectory.

This is to position the institution on a common leadership pedestal to redefine commitment towards harnessing the institutional potential of chieftaincy for a common national development goal.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Global Community Makes Record $75 Billion Commitment to End Extreme Poverty

A coalition of more than 60 donor and borrower governments has agreed to ratchet up the fight against extreme poverty with a record $75 billion commitment for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Banks fund for the poorest countries. 
 

The funding will enable IDA to dramatically scale up development interventions to tackle conflict, fragility and violence, forced displacement, climate change, and gender inequality; and promote governance and institution building, as well as jobs and economic transformation areas of special focus over the next three years. 

These efforts are underpinned by an overarching commitment to invest in growth, resilience and opportunity.

“This is a pivotal step in the movement to end extreme poverty,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “The commitments made by our partners, combined with IDAs innovations to crowd in the private sector and raise funds from capital markets, will transform the development trajectory of the world’s poorest countries. We are grateful for our partners trust in IDAs ability to deliver results”.

With this innovative package, the world’s poorest countries especially the most fragile and vulnerable will get the support they need to grow, create opportunities for people, and make themselves more resilient to shocks and crises, said Kyle Peters, World Bank Group Interim Managing Director and Co-Chair of the IDA18 negotiations. IDAs focus on issues like climate change, gender equality and preventing conflict and violence will also contribute to greater stability and progress around the world." 

IDA is active in 39 countries in Africa, where it is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services. From FY06-16, IDA provided $83 billion in financing for more than 1,000 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of this, more than $18 billion was invested in the development of institutions. Nearly $13 billion supported the provision of critical health and social services. In FY16, the World Bank approved $8.7 billion for the region.

Financing during the IDA18 replenishment period, which runs from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020, is expected to support:  Essential health and nutrition services for up to 400 million people; Access to improved water sources for up to 45 million people; Financial services for 4-6 million people; Safe childbirth for up to 11 million women through provision of skilled health personnel; Training for 9-10 million teachers to benefit 300+ million children; Immunizations for 130-180 million children; Better governance in 30 countries through improved statistical capacity; and an additional 5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity.

To finance this groundbreaking package, IDA is proposing the most radical transformation in its 56-year history. For the first time, IDA is seeking to leverage its equity by blending donor contributions with internal resources and funds raised through debt markets. By blending concessional contributions from donors with its own resources and capital market debt, IDA will significantly increase the financial support it provides to clients.

The innovative financing package offers exceptional value for money, with every $1 in partner contributions generating about $3 in spending authority, said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Vice President for Development Finance. It is one of the most concrete and significant proposals to date on the Addis Ababa Action Agendacritical to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The additional financing will enable IDA to double the resources to address fragility, conflict and violence (more than $14 billion), as well as the root causes of these risks before they escalate, and additional financing for refugees and their host communities ($2 billion). Increased financing will help strengthen IDAs support for crisis preparedness and response, pandemic preparedness, disaster risk management, small states and regional integration. 

Efforts to stimulate private sector development in the most difficult environments, at the core of job creation and economic transformation, will receive a major push in the form of a new $2.5 billion Private Sector Window (PSW). The PSW, being introduced together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), will help mobilize private capital and scale up private sector development in the poorest countries, particularly in fragile situations.

The funds will also help governments strengthen institutions, mobilize resources needed to deliver services, and promote accountability. A total of 48 countries pledged resources to IDA; additional countries are expected to pledge in the near-term. The World Bank Group is continuing the tradition of contributing its own resources to the fund.

One of the extraordinary things about IDA is that it brings different countries together to help the poorest. In this replenishment in particular, weve really seen that IDA is truly a global coalition, said van Trotsenburg. 

A total of 75 low-income countries are eligible to benefit from the IDA18 financing package.