The Chief: Ghana’s Rich Asset, Heritage, and Alternative Source of Community Development

About the Book

The book, the Chief addresses an alternative source of authority that can be harnessed to help with community development. It is one of the nation's rich assets and heritage. He is the traditional ruler called the Chief or ‘Nana’. He has been in the organization of communal labour, promotion of socio-economic development and involved in maintaining peace and order and development of his area since pre-colonial times. The Chieftaincy institution is recognized and accorded its autonomy in the Constitution of Ghana. The government may avoid gross infrastructural deficits in the local communities if he works in collaboration with the Chiefs. I believe also that every society has resources to better the lives of its people. The book is written around the background of the Akan Chieftaincy system, its legal position, the chief’s profile – criteria of his selection; his eleven golden responsibilities to influence the community; the community assets, twelve steps of ways to start community projects and ends up with a controversy among the Christendom, ‘Should a Christian become a Chief?’ The masterpiece is a ‘wake up cry’ to inform, educate, instruct, celebrate, and inspire the Chief and his Traditional Council of what he urgently needs to deal with. The Chieftaincy system is an ancient institution and is still important and relevant. It is inappropriate to be seen as symbolic and ceremonial. It is time for the Chief to take stock of the power and authority vested in him and the influence he has. He need not be like a queen waiting on a king but to be like a queen busy with her kingdom until her king arrives. Why live when you can rule.

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