Accra , April 25, GNA – All traditional rulers should swear allegiance to the constitution and accept in a written document the monopoly of the means of violence by the state as supreme and unquestionable, a Ghanaian physicist has suggested.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Sunday, Dr Michael Gbordzoe, who has retired from the Institute of Physics , University of Würzburg , Germany , said the government should grant no official recognition to any traditional leader without such a declaration.
In proposals submitted to the Constitution Review Commission, he said the “statutory streamlining” of chieftaincy was essential to enable the country to deal effectively with the perennial chieftaincy disputes which had militated against the developmental process and threatened the peace in the society.
“In order to facilitate the streamlining of traditional and constitutional rule in Ghana , the reviewed constitution should stipulate that the guarantee of the institution of chieftaincy must go hand in hand with the declaration of allegiance to the Republican Constitution by all chiefs, kings, queen mothers and other traditional leaders, as deemed necessary,” he said.
“The declaration of total allegiance by Ghanaian chiefs, kings and queens to the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana must be the “conditio sine non qua” for the recognition and gazetting of all traditional leaders by the State and the prerequisite for the officiating and inauguration of their traditional reign,” Dr Gbordzoe said.
He said the acceptance of traditional rulers of the monopoly of violence by the state meant that none of them could declare war on any other group explicitly or implicitly in any part of the country, at village and community to national levels.
“They would agree on their own behalf and on behalf of all their subjects that no violence whatsoever would be used to settle traditional disputes in their areas of jurisdiction.”
“Any action contrary to the acceptance of the monopoly of the means of violence by the State would be tantamount to high treason and the loss of the entitlement to rule.”
Dr Gbordzoe argued that traditional leaders should also reject and outlaw the practice of ritual murder in their areas and accept that any such practice in their community, whether in connection with chieftaincy or by individuals, would be tantamount to murder under the law and dealt with as such with the State instruments.
He also suggested that all traditional leaders should be bound by the Constitution to render account of their reign, their achievements, their difficulties and their expectations to their subjects every five years.
Dr Gbordzoe also suggested a definite term to the reign of chiefs to about a generation (about 30-33 years) after which the next in succession can be chosen.
He said there could be an exception to this regulation if and only if a substantial majority of citizens in the communities concerned would, by popular vote, recommend an extension beyond the statutory limited period.
Dr Gbordzoe suggested that the last two years of the reign should be devoted to solving all problems relating to the selection of a successor and to the process of guaranteeing a smooth transition.
He said the Constitution should empower communities plagued by perennial chieftaincy disputes to elect, through consultation and by popular vote, a Chief Administrator similar to the position of a mayor.
Such an elected Administrator, he said, would form an administrative or a consultative committee to run the affairs of the community, village or town and would be authorised to send a delegate to the traditional councils or House of Chiefs in the Region.
GNA
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