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Regional News from Saturday, March 30, 2019
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2019-03-30
Some leaders and members of the IDEG after the function
Some leaders demand a representation of 30% of members in local bademblies to enable them to participate in the local governance of the country.
According to them, allocating this percentage to the traditional authorities would enable them to appoint well-informed and experienced citizens to ensure that the composition of the bademblies is not dictated by partisan considerations.
However, the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) proposes the creation of an 11-member Local Development Advisory Council, composed of chiefs and professional bodies, to oversee the activities of local bademblies.
But a governance expert, Dr. Eric Osae, voiced a contrary view, stating that the position of the IDEG would undermine the authority of the badembly. The State Council should therefore be modified and integrated into the country's governance architecture so that the chiefs not only advise the president, but the Speaker of Parliament and even the Chief Justice.
These divergent views came to light when IDEG organized a retreat to discuss the position and role of leaders in a multi-party system of government in Accra on Wednesday.
The three-day retreat of influential chiefs and queens aims to provide a platform for traditional authorities to share their views on how best to strengthen their participation in local governance.
The meeting brought together some 20 influential leaders and queens mothers from across the country to discuss the proposal of the Chiefs and IDEG to strengthen the participation of traditional authorities in local governance to promote sustainable and sustainable development. peaceful in local bademblies.
Article 276 (1)
The 70% of the members of the local bademblies are elected at the district badembly elections, while the 30% are appointed by the government.
However, chiefs plead for a review, as the country prepares for the election of heads of municipalities, metropolises and districts in 2021.
Section 276 (1) of the 1992 Constitution prohibits leaders from engaging in active partisan political activity and any leader wishing to be elected should abdicate.
However, the Constitution provides for the appointment of traditional leaders to public posts.
Recently Talensi MP Robert Nachinab Doameng Mosore resigned in May 2015, after being bagged by Tongo's supreme leader in the far eastern region.
Chefs want 30%
Teacher. Nana S.K.B. Asante, who put forward the leaders' proposal, said that institutional representation of chiefs in local bademblies could be achieved by allocating 30% of badembly members to traditional authorities.
Professor Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, Nana Fobi Kropa III, of the Atwima Apemanimhene, said that Ghanaian leaders had experienced a process of marginalization and gradual exclusion of local power over the past century.
He added that the 30% allocated should therefore be attributed to the leaders, adding that "they should even become the presidents of the bademblies".
Professor Ansu-Kyeremeh, who is also a lecturer at the School of Communication of the University of Ghana, said that, given that chiefs were the closest entities to the population, it was just that They are involved in local governance.
While heightened concern about the marginalization of developing leaders at the local level, he felt that there would be greater and better development at the local level if the chiefs were in charge of managing the affairs of the bademblies.
"I have not been consulted by the District Director General or any of the local authorities in the last 13 years on important issues in my area. We are no longer considered, "he said.
Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, supreme chief of the traditional region of Anfoega, said that chiefs should actively participate in local governance and that, therefore, the 30% should be badigned to these leaders.
Make a case for a council
Professor Joseph Atsu Ayee, principal investigator at IDEG, said the chiefs once had a third of representatives at district bademblies, but that this had been canceled due to the use of chieftaincy disputes for to interfere in the affairs of local authorities. bademblies.
He added that the local development advisory council, which would rely on the law, would be an impartial, neutral body composed mainly of chiefs and queens mothers to give chiefs the opportunity to participate in local governance.
Instead of being part of local bademblies where their authority could be undermined, he said leaders would bring their wisdom, knowledge and experience in development, conflict resolution and culture modernization when they would be represented on the board.
Although chiefs are influential and play an important role in the Ghanaian community and their contribution to local governance contributes to development, Professor Ayee said that his involvement in the affairs of the bademblies might tarnish their authority.
He further explained that the council would also include professional bodies such as lawyers, engineers and doctors, among others, to give their expertise in their field of activity to promote development at the local level.
"The authority of the chiefs could be undermined"
However, Osae, who is also a technical advisor to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, said that the chiefs were already an integral part of the governance system because they were represented on the State Council, while the regional coordination council also gave them a place. .
He added that allocating this 30% to the chiefs would undermine their authority and that the establishment of a local governance advisory council would also undermine the authority of the bademblies.
Therefore, he suggested that the State Council chamber be enlarged to have a second chamber with more heads and that its mandate be expanded to advise the Speaker of Parliament and the President of the Court. supreme.
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