INTERGRATE TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES INTO DISTRIC SYSTEM (PAGE 20)

THE Executive Director of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD), Mr Bernard Guri, has called for proper integration of traditional authorities into the district assembly system to make it function effectively.
He stated that traditional authorities were effective development partners who could not be relegated to the background with respect to development, and therefore, called on the government to do more to move the institution forward.
Mr Guri expressed the concern at a two-day workshop for chiefs and traditional women leaders in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The workshop, sponsored by the Konrad Adenaur Foundation (KAF), which was under the theme: "Perspective on strengthening the institution of female leaders", was attended by chiefs and women representatives from all the paramountcies in the region.
Mr Guri noted with concern situations where investors came to the communities and consulted only officials of district assemblies and started work on projects without the knowledge and consent of the traditional authorities who were the custodians of the land.
He described the practice as very unhealthy and called for a review of the system in the interest of the people and the development of the communities.
The Senior Programmes Manager of the KAF, Mr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said it was important for the three northern regions to have women leaders who could properly represent the interest of women and children from their respective communities.
He called on the people, particularly the chiefs to endeavour to come out clear on who should be appointed women leaders to enhance the process.
Mr Owusu-Mensah further advised the traditional rulers to take up the issue of the queens for the northern part of the country very seriously, as it would come with positive interventions, which would in the long run, help solve the poverty problem in the area.
For his part, the President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, Naa S. D. Gore, who chaired the function, stated that the times when women were left behind, was past and gone, adding that it was time women were brought to the fore to fully partake in decision making.
"If we continue to neglect the role of women, then we will keep on depriving them of some of their developmental needs", he stressed.