Right Decision But
4 July 2008
The chief of Berekuso, Nana Oteng Korankye II has reportedly cautioned politicians to distance themselves from chieftaincy matters in the country. The chief was quoted by the Independent newspaper as saying that some politicians interfere in chieftaincy issues for political reasons, using chiefs and opinion leaders of royal families to cause trouble.
According to him, chieftaincy matters have nothing to do with politics and therefore called on politicians to as a matter of urgency, remain neutral for the sake of peace in the country. The Chronicle commends the chief for the good advice he has given to politicians. We, however, think that he must also advise his colleague chiefs not to allow themselves to be used by politicians, to achieve their selfish gains.
His claim that politicians use chiefs and members of royal family to cause trouble is a complete indictment on chiefs who are supposed to known better, than the politicians themselves. A politician can hold public office for a specific number of times, but a chief rules until he or she dies. It will therefore not serve the interest of chiefs and their subjects to allow politicians who do not hold permanent positions to divide their ranks.
It is our belief that if the chiefs stand firm and ignore such influences from politicians, the latter would be discouraged from meddling in their affairs. Before the white man brought his type of governance to this land called Ghana, ours chiefs were already in charge of the day-to-day administration of their respective traditional areas. The chieftaincy Institution has survived over a long period of time, and therefore to allow politicians to destroy such a noble institution for their selfish gains, should not be entertained.
The Chronicle also calls on politicians to stay away from chieftaincy matters, as is being advocated by the Berekuso chief. One cannot deny the fact that most of the chieftaincy conflicts going on in the country have the backing of politicians.
They will always deny it in public, but they themselves know who are pulling the strings behind the scene. We hope our politicians will listen to the advice of Nana Korankye and put an end to this bad conduct.
As a multi ethnic country, we must always be careful about the way we go about chieftaincy issues, because when it explodes it would be very difficult to contain it.
That is why we are calling on both politicians and the chiefs to tread cautiously in the interest of this country.
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