CARVING AN HONOURABLE AND DIGNIFIED ROLE FOR CHIEFS IN GHANA’S LOCAL GOVERNANCE: A PROPOSAL.

Chiefs play a pivotal role in the life of Ghanaian communities. Every post-colonial constitutional arrangement has therefore attempted to define a functional position and role for chiefs in local governance, that accords with their honor and dignity. Ghana’s 1992 Fourth Republican constitution is not an exception. Like the 1969 and the 1979 constitutions before it, the 1992 constitution of Ghana guarantees the institution of chieftaincy and insulates it against interference and manipulation by elected governments. The constitution also identifies chiefs as one of the key stakeholders to be consulted by the central government in the appointment of not less than 30 percent of assembly members. Chiefs nonetheless consider themselves marginalized and excluded from the governance architecture of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. Therefore, at this particular moment and momentum when IDEG’s advocacy for multi-party local governance has captured sustained attention of government and the public, the issue of position and role of chiefs once again must take center stage.