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

Chiefs urged to assert leadership roles in economic development

Traditional authorities would have to assert their leadership roles in the economic development of their localities to reduce environmental degradation caused by resource exploitation.

This is emerging from the last session of the ongoing service management and leadership training for traditional authorities in the Ashanti region.

The Africa Progress Report has indicted multinational firms for not doing much for Africa in contract deals and negotiations on mineral wealth.

Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has stated that tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom.

Whilst expecting African countries to improve governance, he entreated the world's richest nations to introduce global rules on transparency and taxation.

Some chiefs participating in the training raised issues of their non-involvement in government’s negotiations with firms in the exploitation of

natural resources.

But according to Nana Otuo Acheampong, Head of the Osei Tutu II Centre for Executive Education and Research (OTCEER), it behooves on the traditional authorities to be proactive in engaging government in the exploitation of natural resources.

He believes that chiefs can demand transparency and accountability from government, but they first need to be knowledgeable about project and finance management as well as engage professionals when going into negotiations.

“We cannot continue to blame others when we ourselves don’t learn”, said Nana Otuo. He is confident the ‘Leadership and Financial Management’ module under the OTCEER service management and leadership training “would empower Nananom to assert the right thing to be done”.

The four-modular programme, funded by the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), has also covered Service Management and Innovation, ICT and Land Administration, and Contemporary Issues in Leadership.

 

Director of Programmes at the CEIBS, Prof. Mathew Tsamenyi observed that the success or failure in the execution of local projects largely depends on how finances are managed.

“The whole idea is to be able to instill some financial discipline in what happens in the traditional council. Now if Nananom are going to play key central role in leadership and development of their community, they have to be thinking about managing their finance well” he stated.

As the four-month pilot project ends, there are plans to roll out the training in other parts of the country, starting with the Brong Ahafo and Volta regions later this year.

The ultimate objective is to engage the traditional authorities to regard their subjects as customers in order for people in local communities to “inure loyalty to royalty”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Chiefs share knowledge in land mapping for development

One of the major obstacles to instilling investor’ confidence in Ghana is land acquisition and security for local and foreign businesses.

Land utilization in line with modern day planning and the complexity of land ownership pose a tough challenge to stimulate the socio-economic development agenda of the country.

To help improve the situation, traditional authorities in the Ashanti region have been sharing knowledge and experience in land administration at the ongoing training on “Service Management and Leadership for Traditional Authorities”.

Model II of the programme, run by the Osei Tutu II Centre for Executive Education and Research (OTCEER) in Kumasi, is focused on ‘ICT and Land Administration’.

Asakore Mamponghene, Nana Boakye-Ansah Debrah, who is leading the session, has noted that the application of information communication technology should facilitate the mapping up of stool lands for development purposes.

He has implored chiefs to engage professional planners in land data management within their jurisdiction and ensure they are not swayed to arbitrarily change their plans.

“When you plan that this area can be used for housing, this area can be used for farming or industry, you just stick to your planning principle and you don’t change it”, he said. “We’re teaching ourselves how someone has done it and how it’s been successful”.

Nana Boakye-Ansah cited his community as an example of how planning can lead to development and promote peaceful co-existence.

“There has never been double allocation in my area and revenues that come from the sales of lands are distributed equally; there is transparency and because of that I don’t have people with my people and I don’t have problem with the outsiders”, he stated.

The first batch of 30 chiefs drawn from the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs is being exposed to innovative ideas in the discharge of routine duties in their communities.

The programme was launched last month with the aim to enhance the role of traditional institutions in the country’s socio-economic development.

Head of the OTCEER, Nana Otuo Acheampong, has exposed the chiefs to the World Bank’s 2013 report: “Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness”.

According to the report Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods.

Nana Otuo noted that chiefs as custodians of land can help put the uncultivated land resources to productive use.

The four-modular programme is funded by the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) – covers service management and innovation, leadership and land administration, contemporary issues in leadership and financial management for chiefs as leaders.

Director of Programmes at the CEIBS, Prof. Mathew Tsamenyi is enthused at the interest of the chiefs to translate the acquired knowledge into action.

“At the end of it all, what we’re hoping for is to have different roles for traditional institutions as partners in development and we’ll be able to transform areas without necessarily relying on international donors or the government to come and do it for them”, he observed.

There is international interest in the programme as people begin to understand that the traditional institutions can be used as an alternative vehicle to deliver development goods, he said.

The programme would be run for chiefs and queen mothers in all ten regions of the country and hopefully extended to other African countries.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh