Paramount Chiefs In Ghana Must Learn To Live In Harmony With Each Other For Their Own Good

It is vital that there is harmony between all the Paramount Chiefs in Ghana at all material times - to help foster lasting peace in Ghana. Disputes between Paramount Chiefs, can, and  have on occasion, led, to widespread violence in some parts of our nation.

In light of that, it is most unfortunate that a confrontation arose, between members of the Okyenhene's entourage, and a delegation representing the Asantehene - which was led by Oheneba Kwadwo Fodjuor, the Asantehene's Asamponhene - during the funeral at Old Tafo, of the late J. B. Danquah Adu, the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, for the Abuakwa North constituency, who also once served as a deputy  minister, in President Kufuor's government.

This is 21st century Africa. It is important that Paramount Chiefs understand clearly that this is a modern and liberal democracy, in which all are equal before the law - and in which the fundamental human rights of all Ghanaians, are guaranteed, and protected, by the 1992 constitution.

What happened at Old Tafo, during the funeral of the late J. B. Danquah Adu, was most unfortunate  - and completely uncalled for. Does simple courtesy and good manners not demand behaving decently on such occassions, in 21st century Africa?

What is the point of fanning the embers of the long-dead flames of the fires of ancient rivalries, today, I ask?

If Britain's Queen Elizabeth 11,  sent Prince Charles to represent her, at a funeral in the Principality of Monaco, would Prince Charles refuse to stand up, upon the entry of Prince Albert 11, into the place where the funeral was being held - because he felt that the British Monarch was of a greater status than the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, His Serene Highness Albert11?

Would the world not feel scandalised, and consider such boorish behaviour by Prince Charles as absurd, uncouth, and disrepectful - if he had remained sitting whiles the whole gathering had stood upon at the entrance of HSH Prince Albert 11 to where the funeral was being held?

Paramount Chiefs in Ghana must stop fighting yesterday's battles today. Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that predecessors of both the Okyenhene, and the Asantehene, once conquered the whole world, at certain points in time, in the history of humankind, and ruled the world for centuries each.

Of what consequence would that be in today's Republic of Ghana, in which, in a strictly legal sense, there are no monarchs who are sovereigns, I ask?

With respect, Paramount Chiefs in Ghana, ought to be guided by what happened to India's precolonial rulers, the Maharajas. They must not forget that in 1971, the then Indian prime minister, Mrs. Indira Ghandi, stripped the Maharajahs of their last remaining post-independence era privileges.

It is instructive, that whiles India has powered ahead, as a global economic power, Ghana has still not fulfilled even a quarter of its full potential, yet.

In the immediate aftermath of winning its independence from Britain, India's political elite, including Indira Ghandi's father, and independent India's first prime minister, Jawalal Nehru, moved swiftly to rid their nation of inherited privilege.

They understood clearly that inherited privilege is the greatest enemy of meritocracy - and therefore had to be abolished if India was to modernise and progress at a more rapid rate.

Thanks to that progressive move, today - despite the stubbornness of the lingering caste system - India has so advanced as a modern industrialised nation, underpinned by science and technology, that it is now a global leader in many fields of human endeavour.

It is such a pity that President Nkrumah did not follow Tanzania's President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's shining example, and move to abolish the institution of Chieftaincy in Ghana, too.

There are many Progressives in Ghana, who say that by definition, Chiefs are tribal-supremacists, who head a calcified feudal system, of inherited privilege, which thrives on intrigue, secretly harbours prejudice against others, and is built on the perpetual enslavement of vulnerable people.

To such Ghanaians, the palaces of Chiefs, are nests of vipers, which undermine national cohesion - and pose an existential threat to the Ghanaian nation-state.

If Ghanaians are so enamoured with being dominated by Chiefs, then perhaps we must end inherited privilege in Ghana - and abolish the institution of Chieftaincy - and replace the 4th Republic, with the world's first elected constitutional Monarchy.

Under that new system - which will regard all its citizens as royals, and for which reason any of them could potentially be elected as Ghana's Monarch, if they met the qualification for being elected President of the Republic of Ghana, today - even ex-Okyenhenes and ex-Asantehenes, and their successors, can all compete with other candidates, in elections for the position of Monarch of the Royal Kingdom of Ghana, if they so desire.

However, until that day arrives, Paramount Chiefs in Ghana must always remember that there are no monarchs who are sovereigns in the Republic of Ghana. That is a bottom-line, non-negotiable position for patriotic Ghanaians who are passionate nationalists, which tribal-supremacist politicians in Ghana ignore at their own peril. It is a Rubicon they must never cross.

Paramount Chiefs are important and cherished members of Ghanaian society, today. Nothing more, nothing less.

Some may refer to them as 'Kings' but that is only "fun-fool-respect" (to use local parlance), in a nation full of hypocrites and moral cowards - in case that escapes our Chiefs. With respect, they must never let that go their heads.

There cannot be 'Kings' in our unitary Republic of diverse-ethnicity - in which no tribe is superior or inferior to another. In any case, there are many Progressives, who say that to be in awe of Paramount Chiefs, one has to have the mentality of serfs.

Today's serfs - potential lawyers,  medical doctors, engineers, architects, etc., etc., to a man  -  exist only within the confines of the palaces of Paramount Chiefs, do they not? Incidentally, ironically, more often than not, they are the staunchest defenders of the unjust system that they metaphorically carry on their heads in palanquins.

Finally, it is important that at all material times, Paramount Chiefs in Ghana, are aware of the fact that under our democratic system, they most definitely do not enjoy the powers  of their pre-colonial predecessors.

Paramount Chiefs in Ghana are not above the laws of our country - which is why it is important that they learn to live in harmony with each other, for their own good: for if they fight each other by proxy and cause mayhem, the laws of our homeland Ghana will deal with them in appropriate fashion.