Work to defuse political polarisation —Nii Dowuona urges chiefs

THE Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Dowuona VI, has called on chiefs to reposition themselves as fathers of all members of their communities irrespective of their political affiliation to reduce the increasing trend of political polarisation and its attendant devastation.
He said although multi-party democracy was good for the governance of the nation, the seriousness of the cracks it brought, especially during electioneering, demanded that chiefs should ensure that they were always ready to defuse tension.
He reminded members of their communities that although they belonged to different political parties, they were still one people.
Nii Dowuona, who was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, said it was not for nothing that the 1992 Constitution barred chiefs from actively participating in politics, because the constitution envisaged that multi-party democracy had the propensity for polarisation.
“The chieftaincy institution is a unifier, unlike politics in Ghana which rather divides people. This is the reason why chiefs are to refrain from active political party activism and be at hand to unify the people,” he added.
The Osu Mantse said for chiefs to be able to play their traditional roles as fathers of the entire communities effectively, they must put their house in order, reposition themselves, as well as laying down their vision for the communities to develop trust in them.
He said while politicians had specified terms of office, four years in most cases, the chiefs had no specific term of office, and that placed them in very strategic positions to ensure that they ameliorated the ravaging rate of political polarisation.
“Chiefs should take the bull by the horns, get to the root causes of chieftaincy disputes, settle them and instal real chiefs, strengthen and revitalise traditional councils and make them proactive as well as playing their expected roles devoid of political coloration,” Nii Dowuona added.
He said the chiefs must also be supported to enhance the cultural, moral practices and behaviours of the people as a way of fighting moral decadence which was affecting the entire society.
Nii Dowuona said misbehaviour and the increasing rate of crime among the youth could partly be attributed to the low moral standards, because “it’s like we, as a country, have lost focus of our existence and rather concentrate on monetary gains; this has made people resort to all forms of evil things to be rich”.
He said chiefs must uphold cultural practices, because people were identified by their culture and language, without which they could lose their identity.
Nii Dowuona also appealed to the government to support chieftaincy institutions to enable them play their roles effectively, explaining that maintaining the institution was very expensive.
He suggested that the government could come up with Chiefs Development Fund, which would be used by the traditional leaders to complement the efforts of the government in developing their traditional areas, adding “we must be made to account for such amounts”.