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Confine chieftaincy to the National Museum – Deputy Speaker
Accra, March 27, Ghanadot/GNA – Mr.
Freddie Blay, Deputy Speaker of Parliament on Thursday
stated that the chieftaincy institution is anachronistic
which must be dumped into the abyss of national museum for
the country to move forward.
He said, the institution had created more confusion, civil
strive, war and litigation that had retarded national
progress – “talk of Bawku, Yendi, even in Accra, and in my
own home town…chieftaincy conflicts abound everywhere.”
Speaking at the annual symposium of the Philosophy Students
Association (PHISA) of the University of Ghana, on the
theme; “Is Representative Democracy a Fair Form of
Governance for a Developing Nation like Ghana,” Mr. Blay
described most cultural practices as artefacts for the
museums.
He noted however, that culture is dynamic therefore
traditional institutions need to refine our cultural
practices to conform to modern day development.
Mr. Blay also debunked the notion that democratic governance
was alien to African and Ghanaian traditional governance
system.
He emphasis: “We were not having any system of governance,
we had fragmented localised system, the Akan traditional
system, Ewe traditional system, Ga traditional system etc.
which differs from each other. Even the way we install a
chief also defers from one tribe to the other.”
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament noted that, with the
ambiguity in the chieftaincy institution, it was difficult
for the House to pass the Chieftaincy Bill before rising as
there were numerous problems that needed to be addressed.
On democratic governance, Mr. Blay noted that, it was the
best form of ruling a nation, stressing that our hybrid
system of governance have all the structures for the
separation of powers, checks and balances, independence of
the judiciary, and a vibrant media.
GNA
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