Traditional leaders have been charged to be impartial in the discharge of their customary duties and choose the path to peace to promote unity and development within their jurisdictions.
Dr Gerald Dapaah Gyamfi, Acting Director of the Otumfuo Centre for Traditional Leadership (OCTL) at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) made the call at the closing ceremony of a five-day workshop organised for Chiefs, Staff of Traditional Councils and Regional Houses of Chiefs.
Dr Gyamfi added that being neutral and peace-conscious would shape the chiefs to remain the greatest catalyst to development in their communities.
“You are the spokespersons of your subjects and your communication pathway can enhance the development of your community or create chaos if not well communicated,” he said.
Dr. Gyamfi said the chieftaincy institution was bedevilled with numerous challenges, some of which he said include the advancement in technology and globalization which was fast outpacing most traditional leaders.
He said the workshop had empowered the traditional rulers and their officials with the necessary knowledge to create perfect pathways for development despite the challenges.
The Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, Professor Abednego F. O. Amartey, said the ultimate goal of the workshop was to enable the chiefs to formalise their processes and documentation to collate evidence of issues and challenges and tackle them across the learning and sharing process in their communities.
“I hope the knowledge and insight acquired through the workshop would be beneficial,” he emphasised.
Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, Chairperson for the closing ceremony, said the world was constantly evolving together with expectation of the people in the communities.
There is, therefore, the need for leaders to strive to put themselves in better positions to help address modern challenges in their communities.
He said it was a good initiative that the Centre had provided the platform to train traditional leaders to bring development and growth to their communities.
Odeefuo Buadu VIII said in the quest to address modern challenges, traditional leaders should not lose track of tradition and culture.
In all, over 50 participants attended the workshop, bringing the total number of participants since the inception of the programme to 410 chiefs and traditional leaders.
