The Paramount Chief of the Gwollu Traditional Area in the Upper West Region, Kuoro Buktie Limman IV, has called on the government to ensure that chiefs contest elections as independent candidates.

He was of the view that chiefs standing as independent candidates had no correlation with partisan political activities.

"The chief is the father of the nation and the people and the chieftaincy institution is not partisan", he added.

Kuoro LImaan made the call in Wa during a regional consultative forum for the acceleration of decentralisation in Ghana.

Article 176(1) of the constitution states that "A chief shall not take part in active politics : and any chief wishing to do so and seeking election to parliament shall abdicate his stool or skin".

The Gwollu Chief called for the amendment of Article 276 (1), since it infringed upon the fundamental human rights of the chiefs.

"We have lawyers, accounatnts, engineers among others, and so why leave us out of the system? he asked.

He also called for the involvement of chiefs in the decentralisation process, particularly in the disbursement of the District Assemblies Common Fund at the local level.

Source: Daily Graphic

PF