Chiefs must play roles as development partners - Harry Attipoe

Chiefs in the country have been urged to uphold their roles as development partners of government and not consider themselves as an isolated institution.

The Registrar of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, Mr Harry Attipoe said this over the weekend during a sensitization programme he held at Juapong for chiefs, queens and kingmakers from four traditional areas in the Volta Region.

The programme, an initiative of President Nana Akufo- Addo, aimed at covering all the 120 traditional areas in the region, is a collaboration between the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and the Volta Regional House of Chiefs with Mr Attipoe as the sole resource person.

He said he had noticed over the years, as a Registrar of the House of Chiefs in various parts of Ghana, that most petitions made by aggrieved parties in chieftaincy disputes were borne out of ignorance and not evil.

For orderliness to prevail, in Mr Attipoe’s view, the revered institution of chieftaincy with its unique processes and conventions must be appreciated in the light of the Constitution and current laws.

According to Mr Attipoe, the various governance systems before and since the colonial days revolved around the chiefs as they were used as an intermediary between government and the people.

He cited the example of the Poll Tax Ordinance of 1852, a tax law passed by the British colonial administration in agreement with traditional authorities, to raise money for development.

The Registrar said chiefs are so respected in this country that it is easy for them to influence development projects, not only their traditional areas, but also for the entire nation to benefit.

Traditional areas which benefitted from the well-attended Juapong programme came from Volo, Dofor, Fodzoku and Etorgome, all in the Tongu districts.