Centralised governance system must change – Okyenhene

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has described the prevailing centrality of government as outdated, warning that until it is changed, Ghana will continue to experience “baby step development”.

He said with the governance system that excluded 75 per cent of Ghanaians from the opportunity to participate in the governance of their own country, “we are not going to see significant development”.

Besides, he said, that because most of the rural people did not have access to job opportunities to earn decent incomes, they did not pay taxes to contribute to nation-building.

Speaking ahead of the Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin’s 25th Anniversary football gala in Kyebi, the Okyenhene said: “For me, I am 74 years old, and the country that I was born in has remained the same.

“For over 25 years, I have said centrality of government is outdated, and unless we are really ready to decentralise, we will not make the progress that we are looking for because people need to shape their own future and to take charge of their own destiny,” he said.

“We, therefore, need to get rid of the status quo paralysis because we are paralysed to change; other people have changed, and why have we not?,” he added.

Lost dignity  

The Okyenhene said Ghana was a nation-state yet various governments had acted as though “we are a city state”.

He recalled how Ghana’s first Prime Minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, told the nation how resources in most rural parts needed to be taken to Accra for the well endowed to subsidise the less endowed, “and we did that”.

“The promise was that we were going to go and do this and return the development amenities to rural Ghana, but it never happened.

“So, people are not naturally born into poverty, but poverty was brought to people in rural Africa as resources were taken away, and it has been like that ever since, and no government has sought to change it,” he said.

As a result of such a development approach, the Okyenhene said today, many men and women in rural Ghana had lost their dignity as they were unable to sustain themselves and their families because there were no opportunities for them to grow.

While arguing that no country or people had ever developed without opportunity, the traditional ruler said it was wrong for anyone to argue that people in rural Ghana were lazy.

“What you do with that is to make education available, build more infrastructure to widely open up our country so that disadvantaged people in our deprived communities can take advantage of opportunities,” he said.

Open up opportunities

Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin said important areas such as education, health care and sanitation that spurred the growth of society should be left for local communities to manage.

“You cannot sit in Accra and control schools in Bolgatanga because the people there should have a management team to manage their own schools in terms of proximity, expediency, accountability and transparency.

“It is known that systems that are local and small are relatively immune to failure because they can be managed better,” he said, citing how the United States was a federal nation yet localities managed their own schools.

Build capacities

Countering the age-old argument that people in rural Africa did not have the managerial skills and capacity to develop, the Okyenhene said such belief was outdated.

On the contrary, he said, if capacity was what it took to grow any society, it could be taught, learned and could be established.

“Likewise, every developed nation in the world has sought to develop rural people. In America, big companies like GM and Coca-Cola are established in rural areas, and they are not in the cities.

“But here in Africa and Ghana, it has to be city dwellers, shutting off every hope and opportunity that rural people will get, and that is what we are confronted with,” he said.

Having ruled his people for 25 years, the Okyenhene said what he was left with was to advocate against the centrality of government.

“I have no budget, and I do not make the laws; I do not own my own resources, but the only thing I can participate in is to speak.

“I cannot be silent in front of injustice against our own people. Remember that my voice may be neglected and it may be misunderstood, and may be hurting people in political power, but we need to speak,” he said.

Come back home

Sharing his perspective on the exodus of Ghanaian youth from the country, the Okyenhene said God had given young people talents, but the way “the talent will be exposed and be used is when there are opportunities.

“We cannot live in a world where people can only advance by going to Accra or overseas. People need to be able to live and develop where they were born, to grow up, to be educated where you are, and to become responsible parents; and it should not be difficult at all,” he said.

The Okyenhene called on people who lived in rural Ghana but had the opportunity to work in Accra and made it to “come back and build your community”.

“Come back home and see the schools that you attended and help build the infrastructure; come back home to see the women and men who helped you to grow,” he said.

Football gala

The three-day football gala featured teams from all seven divisions of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, with the team from the Kyebi Division beating their counterparts from the Oseawo Division 7:6 on penalties after a goalless match.

To spice the games up, a team of sub-chiefs of Okyeman-Daasebre faced off with the Okyenhene squad, with the former beating the latter 2-1.