DCEs should appreciate
chiefs' role in Development-- Chiefs
Koforidua, Nov. 29, GNA- Chiefs and Queenmothers
in Eastern Region have called on the Governing
Council of the National African Peer Review
Mechanism (NAPRM) Secretariat to educate the
District Chief Executives(DCEs) and Officials of
the decentralized agencies to appreciate the
role of traditional authorities in the
development of the country.
They deploy the way lands that they have been
freely offered for development projects were
diverted by the DCEs and other government
officials without their consent.
It was the conviction of the traditional
authorities that such education was necessary if
the recommendations contained in the country
report of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)
on chieftaincy was to work effectively.
The Chiefs and Queenmothers expressed their view
at a dissemination workshop organized for the
Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and
Queenmothers on Tuesday by the NAPRM Governing
Council(GC) at Koforidua.
Speaking on the country's report, the Executive
Secretary of NAPRM-GC, Dr Francis Appiah said
the report recommended that traditional
authorities in the country need to see
themselves as leaders of their communities who
has roles to play to the development of their
areas and as such take decisions to that effect.
He said if traditional authorities were to play
the role expected of them, then they have to be
bold in taking decisions and had to prove to be
visionaries by their actions.
Dr. Appiah said the report also recommended that
the government provides the necessary financial
resources to support the judicial review of the
traditional authorities and the traditional
institution for it to growth and development.
He called on the traditional authorities to
return to their role in the past where they
played a major role in the provision of schools
and other development projects in their
communities.
He urged them to find a way of using their
festivals and other activities to tap the
knowledge and resources of the intellectuals
from their areas to contribute towards the
development of their traditional area.
A member of the NAPRM-GC Professor S. K. B.
Asante observed that, the development of the
country would progress faster if traditional
authorities were made to become the focal point
of development programmes in the districts.
He explained that, this was so, because the
influence of traditional authorities transcend
political lines and so they had the advantage of
mobilizing people from different political
persuasions to come together to support
developmental efforts.
The Chairman of the GC of the NAPRM, Professor
S. K. Adjepong said after the APRM of Ghana,
several recommendations were made and as part of
the process the various institutions and
organizations that had roles to play need to be
sensitised to be aware of
their roles if the country is to achieve the
desired benefit from the APRM.
He said it was for that reasons that the GC had
been organizing several workshops for various
institutions and organizations in the country
after the APRM.
In a welcoming address, the President of the
Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, Nene Narh
Dawutey Ologo recounted the various programmes
that the NAPRM secretariat had organized for the
House and expressed his appreciation for the
efforts and the interest shown.
GNA
