Political Scientist and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana Ransford Gyampo has advised Chiefs against openly associating with and endorsing politicians, warning that such a practice is not only against the constitution of the republic, but undermines their influence and respect among their subjects.
Commenting on the recent endorsements of Presidential candidates by some chiefs, Prof Gyampo noted that Chiefs have been barred constitutionally from active politics because of the history of the institution, stressing that Chiefs must remain neutral to be able to intervene when the country faces a crisis.
He reminded them that political power is transient and they must be wary of this and conduct themselves as agents of unity and credible mediators in times of upheaval.
“…What may not be easily known to many of the chiefs who flout the constitutional injunction is that, they commit political suicide by eroding their own respect, and role as agents of unity. They lose their role as countervailing forces and credible mediators in political impasse and conflict. They also lose their convening powers to summon their citizens for communal work. They also lose their role as agents of development, as no government will work with a chief who is a known political opponent,” he cautioned.
Prof Gyampo argued that the partisanship of chiefs has the tendency to compromise the country’s peace, urging Ghanaians to call out these Chiefs and get them to respect the constitutional injunction on them not to engage in active partisan politics.
“The days when uneducated and semi-literates were made chiefs are long gone. Today, our chiefs are highly learned. Some are University Lecturers. Others are Lawyers, Engineers, Medical Doctors, Accountants, etc. They are very reasonable and must be called to order, to respect what the constitution say against their quest to do partisan politics. This should be a matter of concern to those of us who are concerned with Ghana’s peace. Indeed, this should be a matter of priority to all Ghanaians, as we seek to build a core of unbiased citizenry, who will wield a certain moderating influences, in intervening to help resolve conflicts, when our nation threatens to implode, because of partisan politics,” he asserted.
He concluded that “the history of the Fourth Republic show that power is very transient. Therefore, Chiefs who race to please politicians who call on them in their palace, must know that it is in their own interest to enjoy respect from all across the divide. They lose their own influence and respect by making open partisan remarks that places needless partisan tags on them as NPP/NDC Chiefs.”
Several chiefs have endorsed either John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The latest open call on subjects to vote for one candidate or another came from the Chief of Mehame in the Bono Region, who called on his people to vote for John Mahama.
