Celebrating Fifteen years of the Asantehene, Okyenhene and forty years of Okuapehene; the fate of chieftaincy in modern Ghana

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II

As the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin both celebrate fifteen years on the Golden Stool and Ofori Panin Stool respectively, as well as the Okuapehene, Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III also celebrates a huge landmark of forty years on the Ofori Kuma stool, this article takes a look at chieftaincy itself, some success stories of chiefs over the years and the fate of chieftaincy in modern Ghana in the face of daring challenges.

Chieftaincy as we may know is one of the oldest institutions in Ghana and actually one of the few remaining cultural relics of the past. Dating back to somewhere in the fourteenth century, chieftaincy has become an embodiment of our existence as different groups of people who would later come together to form the nation Ghana. A dip into the archival sources reveals that Kings and chiefs were much revered in the olden days than they are today thanks to the emergence of democracy and its associated changing hands of power from chiefs to politically elected or appointed figure heads.

 Chiefs in the past and even today remain the nodes of connection between the central government and the ordinary people of the community and sometimes the larger group of people depending on the status of a particular chief. In other words, they are the mouthpiece of the ordinary citizens of a particular community. They have also mobilised their people for development in the past, a clear example of such great king in this regard was Okyenhene Nana Sir Ofori Atta of Akyem Abuakwa who founded the Abuakwa State College at Kyebi for his people.

Chiefs in the 21^st century Ghana have also not slept on their stools and skins but also strive to bring development not only to their various traditional areas but the country at large. The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on his enstoolment 1999 vowed to improve education in Ashanti and Ghana as whole. He set up the Otumfuo Educational Fund awarding scholarships to the teeming needy but brilliant children throughout Asante and beyond and also building educational infrastructure in places in dire need. Today he has the Otumfuo Charity Foundation that tackles the various spectrum of developmental needs such as HIV/AIDS, Healthcare, Environment among others.

Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin

The Okyenhene is also not left out in bringing development to his people and Ghana as a whole. On his enstoolment as Okyenhene in 1999 he vowed to wrestle the wanton destruction of the environment in his Kingdom, he set up the Okyeman Environmental Foundation to champion that cause. Indeed, he has been the loud mouth of environmental preservation ever since and the zeal to see the environment protected has culminated into the establishment of an environment and agriculture university to oversee that agenda. He also has much interest in Education, HIV/AIDs, Sanitation, and issues relating to child development, subsequently he has an endowment fund for these areas of interest. It is worth mentioning that he broke an ancient tradition (barring chiefs from running) to lead a marathon and actually tested for HIV in public, a feat, he is the first traditional ruler to chalk.

The Okuapehene over the last forty years of his enstoolment has brought peace and development to the people on the Akuapem hills and beyond. Serving as the president of the eastern regional house of chiefs, he had been instrumental to the peace and development of the Eastern Region at large and the people of Akuapem specifically. Readers would recall when conflict broke out in Akuapem somewhere 1994 culminating in the withdrawal of allegiance of some Akuapem chiefs to the Okuapehene Ofori Kuma stool, he remained steadfast as if he knew peace would once again return to Akuapem. Today the matter has been resolved amicably restoring Akuapem back to its former glory of peace loving people. 

It would interest readers to know that the Okuapehene is the traditional nephew of the Okyenhene. A brief history of the Akuapems  tells how the Akuapems ( then loose groups of Guans) solicited the help of the then Okyenhene, Nana Ofori Panin to ward off the Akwamus who were terrorising the Akuapems, the Okyenhene readily accepted to help and dispatched his nephew Safori who led a thousand forces to defeat the Akwamus. As a reward for the gallant Akyems, he was asked to stay and rule over the Akuapems and a stone planted to that effect, the Okyenhene gave his royal blessings to Safori the new king of Akuapem. This brief tells how the Okyenhene is the traditional uncle of the Okuapehene. The Okuaphene Oseadeeeyo Addo Dankwa III has written a number of books including “The Institution of Chieftaincy in Ghana; The future”, and “Christianity and African Traditional Beliefs”.

Okuapehene Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III

Obviously it has not been easy for the chiefs in achieving some development feats for their people and country at large, gone are the days of “see no evil nor speak no evil of chiefs”. In times past flouting a chief’s order could lead to decapitation of the culprit not to talk about speaking evil of a King. However, today, thanks to modernity and democracy chiefs have become objects of vilification and public ridicule in our country sometimes by their own subjects. Not even the highly revered ones such as the Asantehene and Okyenhene are spared in this spectacle. Mostly, clear sabotage have been evident in this practice. 

Typical saboteur works include an allegation perpetrated by a royal of the Ofori Panin Stool that the Okyenhene was highly involved in galamsey in 2011, almost bringing the Okyenhene’s much touted campaign against environmental degradation into disrepute. The Asantehene was also not only accused of been an accomplice in the infamous MV Benjamin missing cocaine saga but also buying a magnificent mansion in London at the expense of his people among others but thankfully all these allegations turned out to be false. In the face of all these works of saboteurs, not only do  the chiefs continue to work hard to bring development to their communities but also continue to be relevant in the day to day running of communities as well as matters relating to the preservation of culture and traditions of our dear country.

In ending this piece, I would call on Ghanaians to appreciate our chiefs and support them in their quest to bring development to their people and desist from mudslinging our revered chiefs. I would also encourage our chiefs to remain resolute in their quest to seek development for their people in the face of such vexatious and frivolous allegations. God bless them as they mark another milestone on the Golden Stool,the Ofori Panin Stool and Ofori Kuma Stool. Happy anniversary to all other chiefs marking significant milestone this year 2014. On a lighter note, I wish to invite all lovers of chieftaincy, culture and traditions to the grand anniversary celebrations in Kumasi this May, Akropong in October and December in Kyebi  of the Asantehene, the Okuapehene and the Okyenhene respectively. Long live Chieftaincy Long live Ghana

THE LIFE OF AN UNEMPLOYED GRADUATE

It is the dream of every graduating student be it from the polytechnic, the university or any other institution to be gainfully employed just after national service. Albeit, if wishes were horses beggars would ride. Soon after the gargantuan graduation highly represented by almost the entire extended family of the graduand, then comes the ‘Jesus Christ’ of most graduates “the national service”. National services becomes the shield of most graduates protecting them from the hitherto stigma associated with being unemployed. At this very point there is an unending anxiety in the midst of respite.

The journey through national service appears to be a very long one from the beginning only to end sooner than anticipated to the disappointment of many, alas that is where the whole real life of an unemployed graduate begins. Imagine getting up in the morning with a ‘zero to do list’ for the whole day apart from sitting at one corner of your bed waiting for your breakfast from your parents if you are the lucky one or worse for you if you have to fall on your friends and other people for your feeding. Usually people would not make an issue out of still eating from your mothers’ kitchen even at an old age, how about the seemingly lost of hope and respect not only from  clueless people around you but  family and friends?, that is the real deal about being unemployed.

Again, consider the wanton avoidance of people ordinarily you would like to be with because they would ask you umpteen times questions such as the following; Where are you now? Are you working now? How far with job search among several others as if jobs are secured in just about few minutes after national service. Obviously, people have not considered the slur these ostensible concerns cast on lives of the unemployed graduate, it’s not surprising some unemployed graduates have subsequently not only shunned the social media but also social events with the hope of avoiding the preposterous reminder of their plight every now and then.

Interestingly, there are calls by all manner of people imploring  on unemployed graduates not to  rely on government for employment but to plunge into the world of self employment, forgetting about the very scarce but  also important commodity called ‘money’ badly needed for such venture. In the sidelines of these, frustrated unemployed graduates attend anything dubbed ‘seminar’ on wealth creation spending the little resources left after earning meagre allowances from their national Jesus Christ service. Though not to downplay the effectiveness of these seminars, I sometimes wonder if it is all about attending seminars.

Finally comes the turn of recruitment agencies to cash in on frustrated unemployed graduates. If you are fortunate you are exploited on piecemeal bases, you pay ten to thirty cedis to attend interviews almost every two weeks on portfolios you may not even be qualified for .If you become the unlucky one too, you pay a lump sum of some two thousand cedis or even higher just to secure a job which may never come. That is the life of an unemployed graduate. As you glance through this article pray you find neither yourself nor others in this hot seat of being an unemployed graduate.