In Ghanaian culture, the chief’s position extends far beyond symbolism. A chief is trustee of
community land, a unifying figure for people, a peacemaker, and a link between the people and
the state. With a chief who is well-respected, communities are able to balance development, spur
investments, and provide law and order.
Chiefs preserve the culture while guiding their people towards development, and in doing so, they anchor the growth and stability of towns and villages
across the country.
Nevertheless, in Adansi Akrokkerri, a previously thriving town in the Ashanti Region, the
extended length of time without a chief has brought about a leadership vacuum that is distorting
development and fanning disorderliness.
Since the demise of Nana Asare Bediako II, the Akrokkerrihene, on 23rd July 2001, the stool has
remained vacant. Nearly twenty years without a substantive traditional leader have eroded the
town’s ability to organize itself, protect its resources, and secure its future.
Amongst the most tangible consequences of this lacuna is the wholesale increase in illegal
mining, famously known as “galamsey”. Without a chief to oversee land use and exercise
communal discipline, agricultural lands and forest reserves are being turned into mining pits.
Waterways have been polluted, and the youth, who formerly used to consult traditional leaders,
are now being drawn into ecologically- destructive professions for the lack of alternatives.
“Absence of a chief has emboldened illegal miners,” said an opinion leader who requested
anonymity. “There is no customary authority to confront them or to rally the people to safeguard
our lands. It hurts.”
The leadership vacuum has also stifled development. The key infrastructure such as roads, health
centers, and schools either do not exist or are in a state of disrepair. Akrokkerri, its own historical
teacher training school, is now struggling to maintain even the bare minimum facilities for
development to take place.
Without someone to speak for the town to municipal authorities, Adansi Akrokkerri is typically
left out of district-planning and resource allocations. “When the chief is away, the town becomes
quiet,” stated one local. “Projects are given to other communities with good leadership.”
Moreover, the chieftaincy crisis has divided the town. The protracted court cases by the royals on
who sits on the stool have stretched the royal family and weakened communal unity. The result is
inefficiency in solving local issues—ranging from sanitation and youth unemployment to crime
and land feuds.
The people in the community, the elders, and the youth groups are now calling for the
expeditious resolution process to install a new Akrokkerrihene. The restoration of the chieftaincy
has been believed by many as the starting point for the restoration of law, order, and
development.
The Adansi Akrokkerri case is a cautionary tale that the classic leadership will forever belong to
Ghana’s development agenda. A chiefless society is like a ship without a skipper—pointless,
vulnerable, and directionless.
While the country is devastated by illegal mining and development are in limbo, the citizens of
Adansi Akrokkerri wait in expectation—waiting for the day when their stool would be occupied
once more, and their town, rekindled. Thus, pleading with the King of the Asantes and major
stakeholders who have much to say in terms of installing chiefs
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