The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has used the opportunity gained at the public forum held in Takoradi as part of activities to mark 30 years of parliamentary democracy in the country to broach certain conversations.
For instance, at a related reception he hosted in Takoradi over the weekend for the local press, the Speaker, among other remarks, urged Ghanaians to take critical cue from political situations across the West Africa sub-region and protect their democratic rights and principles.
Expatiating on that remark he made a point that both the governing and the governed seemed not to understand democracy, hence the negative goings-on in the political landscape of the sub-region.
We expressed our opinion on that conversation in our Monday editorial.
Yesterday, the Speaker broached another conversation urging the relook into the constitutional provisions that barred chiefs from participating in active politics in the country and possibly reverse (amend) the provisions.
If by participating in active politics, Mr Bagbin means allowing the chiefs to belong to particular political parties, wearing their T-shirts and other paraphernalia and speaking for them on campaign platforms, then we beg to differ.
In fact, the reasons behind barring chiefs from politics constitute wise counsel.
It is said that the barring, for instance, helps to preserve the dignity and sanctity of chiefs; enhances unity at the local level; helps to avoid skewed development of communities; prevents conflicts of roles as chiefs and as politicians; and above all, ensures neutrality, an element for unifying the people the chiefs rule.
These reasons must be considered sacrosanct.
What we think must rather be done is to restore to the chiefs that traditional authority and power of old, which gave them clout in many situations.
Today, with the exception of a few traditional leaders like the Asantehene, the rest, particularly those in the non-prominent communities, have little or no respect even among their own people.
If the authority of today's traditional ruler can be undermined by people who have political authority or connection in high places, allowing chiefs to take part in active politics can worsen the situation.
In times of old, it took chiefs and their elders like the sub- and divisional chiefs, as well as clan heads to ensure law and order in their communities.
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They did that perfectly well before the so-called modernity and democracy came to erode their power and authority.
Mr Bagbin is quoted as saying that "Ghana needs to re-orient its democratic architecture and ensure that the wisdom and expertise of chiefs can be tapped to enhance representative governance in the country."
We believe the wisdom and expertise of chiefs is being tapped currently through the houses of chiefs and the roles some chiefs are playing in national affairs.
It is under the current democratic arrangement that the tapping can best be done because of the neutrality the chiefs exhibit.
Bring them into active politics and politicians will ignore the wisdom and expertise of chiefs on the opposite side of the political divide, no matter how valuable that human resource is.
Let's us rather restore to chiefs their real power and authority to embolden and strengthen them to better help the political class to ensure peace, tranquillity, law and order in the country.
