– Paramount Chief advocates

A CHIEF has suggested that the National House of Chiefs should develop a code of ethnics to regulate the conduct of chiefs.

The proposal, he said, is informed by the “infiltration into the institution by ineligible and questionable characters and the lack of transparency or abuse of stool and community resources by some chiefs for their personal gain”.

Togbui Tepre Hodo IV, Paramount Chief of Angoega in the Volta Region, said the code will help preserve the good image, the support and popularity of the chieftaincy institution and rid it of questionable characters.

“The Chief would thus be in a good position to command the respect of his subjects, who would then be ready to heed his call to engage in development activities”, he said.

He was speaking on the topic, “The role of Chieftaincy in the Economic Development of Ghana”, at this year’s ‘Re-Akoto Memorial Lecturer’, held on Wednesday in Accra.

The lectures formed part of activities to mark the 48^th Law Week Celebration of the Ghana School of Law.

The lectures were instituted in honour of Baffour Osei Akoto, a Senior Linguist at the Manhia Palace, who was arrested under the Prevention Detention Act in the First Republic.  The case between the Republic and Baffour Akoto (Re-Akoto) because a landmark case and features prominently in the Legal History of the country as it stresses the importance of fundamental human rights of citizens.

Togbui Hodo IV, a legal practitioner, known in private life as Charles Hayibor, also urged the National House of Chiefs to complete the compilation of the register of lines of succession and bar ineligible persons from infiltrating the institution”.

He noted that chieftaincy as a traditional governance system in contemporary times is as onerous responsibility wish requires Chiefs to strive to “become managerial leaders with vision, accountability and transparency as their watchword”.

Speaking on the topic, “The role of chieftaincy in the constitutional development of Ghana, Justice S.A. Brobbey, a Justice of the Supreme Court, noted that chieftaincy has survived all these years because of its tendency to adapt to change.

That, he added, was the reason why the onslaught of colonialism and modernity has not diminished the role of the chief in the development of the country.

Justice Brobbey noted that chiefs have played very significant roles in the constitutional development in the dual systems or government in the country, saying this was why the colonial authorities did not dismantle the institution but gave it due recognition and tailored it to meet their imperial motives.

Justice Brobbey, who has spent seven years, researching the institution, noted however that the role of chiefs has been altered over the years.

The lectures were instituted in honour of Baffour Osei Akoto, Senior Linguist at the Manhyia Palace, who was arrested under the Prevention Detention Act in the First Republic. The case between the Republic and Baffour Akoto (Re-Akoto) became a landmark case and features prominently in the legal history of the country as it stresses the importance of fundamental human rights of citizens.

The Ghanaian Times     -           Saturday, March 24, 2007                   Pages: 1 & 4