By Benjamin Akoto
Abesim-Sunyani, May 17, GNA – Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has implored queen mothers to assist the Ministry to reduce chieftaincy disputes across the country.
He said his appointment “is to serve” through their support so that chieftaincy disputes would be minimized in the country, saying that 70 per cent of the country’s national security issues pertained to chieftaincy disputes.
Mr Boateng made the call at the opening of the third annual conference and workshop for queen mothers at Abesim, near Sunyani. Organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German political foundation in partnership with the National Queen Mothers’ Platform and the Bono Regional Queen Mothers’ Association, the two-day event aimed to explore the complex relations between traditional leaders and the modern legal and political systems in Africa on the theme “Traditional Leaders in Contemporary African Governance: The Clash of Laws, Authorities and Responsibilities”.
It also provided a forum for discussion and debate on other related important issues and “to explore ways in which traditional leaders can be integrated into modern governance systems while still maintaining their cultural identities and authorities”.
The participants comprised paramount queen mothers from the Bono and Bono East Regions and two accredited representatives from the remaining regions nationwide.
Mr Boateng, acknowledged the important roles played by queen mothers, saying the Ministry would ensure those roles were enhanced through the provision of the necessary logistics to help assist various communities throughout the country.
He noted in the colonial era, chiefs and queen mothers were the rulers, but the adoption of democracy had somehow limited the some powers of traditional leaders, hence, there was the need to fuse democracy and chieftaincy which would require amendment of the Chieftaincy Act to include and clarify specifically the roles of queen mothers.
Nana Amponsah Dokua III, the Paramount Queen Mother of Osudoku Traditional Area and President of the Queen Mother’s Platform-Ghana explained the conference provided a step for them to explore avenues to bridge the gap between traditional and modern governance systems.
She said as queen mothers they were not only seeking for their individual progress but were willing to contribute to the development of their respective communities, regions and the country in general.
GNA