A leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, believes chiefs compromise their development mandate and lobbying power when they publicly engage in partisan politics.
The run up to the 2016 elections has seen a number of chiefs pledge support for the presidential Candidates of either the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party and Prof. Akosa has said such are wrong given the prime position chiefs sit in within the community.
These endorsements have also come despite the National House of Chiefs warning chiefs across the country to desist from openly endorsing presidential candidates ahead of the elections.
Speaking in the Citi Breakfast Show, explained that it was for good reason that the framers of the constitution insisted that chiefs are not to play a role in active politics.
“As a chief and as a developmental agent, you have got to lobby every sitting government for possible projects within you community. Now if you have gone and declared, do expect that government will listen to you and therefore you community? You would have done great disservice for you community.”
“Your community should not know where you stand on the partisan divide,” Prof. Akosa stated as he noted that, “assuming that a third of your community does not agree with you or is on the other side of where you have endorsed, the relationship with them going forward becomes very shaky.”
“You can have a choice but that choice should be restricted to yourself. You don’t have to come out and clearly endorse a political party,” Prof. Akosa said.
He however cautioned that, “if there is even one person who opposes that party, that person can create problems for you and that is what will shake the peace and cohesion of you community and therefore the country.”
–
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana