CODE OF ETHICS FOR CHIEFTAINCY INSTITUTION (PAGE 3, DEC 29)

THE National House of Chiefs is to develop a code of ethics for the chieftaincy institution to guide chiefs in carrying out their traditional responsibilities.
The President of the house, Wulugu Naba Pugansoa Naa Prof. J.S. Nabila, who made this known at the end-of-year meeting of the house in Kumasi, said the code would make the institution more acceptable to the people, since majority of them looked up to their chiefs for leadership.
He said transparency, probity and accountability at the traditional, regional and national levels of the institution would definitely make the institution gain much respect, both within and outside the country.
Naa Prof. Nabila mentioned the importance of chieftaincy in national development and called on the government to provide the needed support to enable the institution to play its role effectively for the benefit of the people.
He expressed concern over the inadequate budgetary allocation for the house and said unless that was addressed, the various houses of chiefs could not carry out their constitutional duties creditably.
He also touched on the lack of counsel for the judicial committees of the houses of chiefs which was retarding their adjudicating processes.
He said the house was going to participate fully in the upcoming review of the 1992 Constitution.
Consequently, it was to appoint its own review committee that would focus on issues that affected the institution.
Naa Prof. Nabila commended the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for supporting the house to come up with a Chieftaincy Bulletin, the first issue of which would come out at the end of December this year.
He stated that the leadership of the house was determined to chart a path that would lead the institution to progress and development.
The Wulugu Naba noted that if culture was well harnessed and incorporated into the development process, as demonstrated by the Asian giants and other European countries, it could be a good vehicle for achieving human development goals.
He said the notion that all traditional councils were endowed with resources was false and pointed out that many of the councils were facing serious financial difficulties that called for support from outside to enable them to deliver.