Debate On Leadership Responsibility In Ghana

Dear Patriots,

Thank you for your common sense exchanges of views in the atmosphere of mutual respect. This is a breadth of fresh air in comparison with the exchanges at many of our other debating African forums. We are proud as Ghanaians today because we debated on many concerned issues affecting the governance and leadership responsibility of our country at a time when the mere expression of one's opinion could result in torture, imprisonment or even death. We had few "Khaki Boys" issuing Decrees to govern the whole country. I am not trying to point out things that we do not know as Ghanaians but just to underscore the importance of such debates. Some of you spent and are still spending your precious time and expertise to share your views with the fellow Ghanaians. Since our destiny as Nation lies in our own hands, such your efforts cannot be underestimated. Thank you all for the good job.

The issues of Chieftaincy institution can be only divisive if we think about it in terms of modern western style political government systems versus primitive, archaic, or feudal type of governance. The worse destruction of our Africa dignity and heritage is the acceptance by default through the untested premise of modernization of copying our colonial masters. In so doing our post-Independent African political leaders have only done the greatest injustice to our traditional values and our dignity as Africans in general and Ghanaians in particular. They have been paying lip service to the Chieftaincy institution while crippling the institution from evolving itself. You may wonder why we were taught in schools and colleges in Ghana about the checks and balances in foreign democratic governments, socialism and communism but never had a course in Chieftaincy except for those of us who had the privilege to be raised up from within the Chieftaincy institution itself. Check out the many lessons that can be learnt for our proverbs, metaphors and parables from our oral history and folk tales. Again, nobody is advocating that we copy everything in the past, but why deny our people the right to learn from their own traditions and culture?

What Kofi and George are saying today, are issues we should have addressed long time ago. Our people living in the cities, towns and villages in Ghana have been governed on daily basis according to their traditional and cultural values but lacked the democratic power to force their elite political leadership to acknowledge them. The same way as we had the Indirect Rule under the British Colonial Administration, the dual power structures of the traditional and political rule which at times conflicted with each other as to the people’s interest, still exist today. This is why I read Kofi's article on "The Dawn of Ghana Renaissance” with sense of gratitude and appreciation. Better be late than never, Kofi. The Black Star of Africa will continue to shine in Ghana as we are still dedicating our efforts to keeping the Star shining. My next article will focus on the Chieftaincy as a governing institution.

Felix Amankona Diawuoh
The Free Africa Foundation.
Colorado Springs, CO
03/16/08.