Details

Traditional Councils and District Assemblies as Partners in Development

Addressing the Challenges of Accountability and Transparency in the Upper West Region

1. JUSTIFICATION

Studies by CIKOD and many others have confirmed the overwhelming view that chiefs still enjoy a high level of legitimacy and relevance in the Ghanaian populace. This assertion is supported by the findings of the African Peer Review in Ghana which concluded that there is a strong consensus on the relevance of the chieftaincy institution and specifically recognizes the critical role of traditional chieftaincy institutions in conflict prevention, management and resolution particularly at lower (regional, municipal, metropolitan and district) levels of government. The report indicated that the TA system is particularly important in its potential to contribute significantly to strengthening Ghana’s decentralization system. Likewise, the Growth and Poverty Reduction strategy (GPRS II: 2006-2009) paper specifically acknowledges the role of chiefs as catalysts in development within and beyond their immediate communities. Above all, the creation of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture by the Kufuor government to facilitate the development of the institution in order for it to take its rightful place in the governance of the nation largely demonstrates the relevance of the institution.

There is however empirical evidence that, today, many government officials and ordinary citizens have some doubts about the institution in relation to their accountability and transparency to their people. For example, many people in the traditional areas as well as government officials think that some of our Chiefs are not transparent in their dealings with their people as well as public officials. In the case of southern Ghana where chiefs receive royalties from commercial exploitation of natural resources such as timber, gold and land, there are many chiefs who do not inform their people about the amount of royalties they receive for the development of their traditional areas and do not inform them about how such monies are spent. There are others who think the houses of Chiefs do not address issues of concern to them and have not put in place any mechanisms for informing their people about the issues they discus in the houses. Government officials in particular recognize the importance of chiefs as important partners for development at the district and community levels, they are however not sure to what level they can hold Chiefs accountable if they allocated public funds to them to support their development activities. They also have the fear that if the development role of chiefs is given official recognition and given public financial support, chiefs might be so strong that loyalty to the DCE as the representative of the President at the District level will be divided.

On the basis of these official positions and the experience from the long experience of KAS and CIKOD with TAs in Ghana, the two institutions intend to refocus their work with TAs at the lower levels – particularly the Traditional Councils where they are closest to the people – to facilitate integration or effective collaboration between them and the lower tiers of the District Assemblies.. This requires that the negative perceptions outlined above be addressed so as to build the trust between the two institutions as well as with the citizens. In this regard, KAS and CIKOD will organize a 2-day workshop in Wa in the Upper West Region that will provide the opportunity for all stakeholders to discus the issues raised above in a dispassionate way so as to come up with a concrete way forward for integrating the work of the two institutions especially at the lower levels.

2. GOAL OF THE WORKSHOP

The goal is to contribute to strengthening the trust and confidence between Traditional Councils and District Assemblies to enhance effective local level governance where the traditional and formal decentralized government structures are working in synergy.

3. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

At the end of the workshop the following concrete outputs are expected:

1. A workshop report outlining the views of different stakeholders on the issue of transparency and accountability with respect to building trust between Traditional Councils and District Assemblies for joint effort at developing their communities.
2. Specific recommendations on practical steps to take to improve transparency and accountability (political, social and economic) by Traditional Councils and the District Assemblies to each other and to their people.
3. A communiqué outlining the official position of the Traditional Councils and District Assemblies in relation to strengthening the developmental role of Traditional Councils in the districts.

4. TARGET GROUP

Participants to the workshop would be Sub divisional chiefs and Traditional Women Leaders and youth leaders selected from the three Zonal Areas of the Upper West Region – Wa, Sissala, and Lawra Zonal Areas. Others would be District Chief Executives or their representatives from the three zones, Registrars of selected Traditional Councils, representatives of Area Councils in the zones and some selected NGOs operating in the three zones.

5. TOPICS:

1. Key note address on the theme - to be delivered by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and Environment or the (by Upper West Regional Minister).
2. Collaboration between Traditional Councils and Area councils in optimizing productivity in natural resource in the Upper West Region – experiences of a Chief (by Naa Dr. Banka)
3. “Financing the Development activities of Traditional Councils from public funds – policy and management implications” (by Regional Finance Officer)
4. “Facilitating transparency and accountability in land management at the level of Traditional Councils “– challenges and opportunities. (by CIKOD UWR)

6. VENUE AND DATE

The workshop will take place at the In-service Training Center in Wa from 4th to 6th May 2009

For further information contact

CIKOD

Mr. Bern Guri

Executive Director

+233- (0)244 32 77 98

KAS

Isaac Owusu-Mensah

Snr. Programme Officer

+233 (0)244 32 90 47