Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of Asogli, has announced plans to establish an institute for the promotion of traditional leadership across the African Continent.
The Institute would be headquartered in Accra to coordinate activities to deepen continental integration.
Togbe Afede announced this while opening a summit of Ewe traditional leaders in Ghana, Togo and Benin, which formed part of activities to mark this year’s Asogli Yam Festival.
The Agbogbomefia said the chieftaincy institution retained the mandate of community leadership and was more positioned to champion continental unity.
He said the Institute would, therefore, help bring together traditional leaders of the African race, and cement unity towards the consolidation of resources for accelerated development.
“We will see what we can do to support political leadership provide jobs and prepare our children for the future- What we can do to prepare the nation for them so that they become good leaders for the future,” Togbe Afede said.
The Agbogbomefia noted that chiefs could better rally people around the concept of the growing continental free trade initiative and called to help change the negative outlook on traditional leadership, but rather throw focus on meeting the development aspirations of the people.
Togbe Afede said he would personally provide funding for the establishment of the Institute, and that support from other leaders would be needed to achieve the goal.
He called on traditional leaders to accept the task and assured them that the initiative was not for personal gain, but to help promote unity across the continent.
Togbe Afede noted how greed continued to affect the development of the black nation, and said, “we must unite and not waste time on unnecessary things.
“Let’s unite and pursue greater things that will benefit all.”
The Agbogbomefia said through unity, impediments such as artificial borders would be removed, and urged chiefs to commit more to national issues.
Dr Kofi Anani, who is among resource persons working on establishing the institute, said, “the main purpose of the traditional leadership institute is to complement what the AU is doing.
“Togbe Afede had birthed the idea to be able to communicate, organise and mobilise people for progress,” he stated.
Dr Anani said the initiative would provide the analytic and advisory works to promote unity, and that traditional leaders should offer the support needed.
Togbega Dzidzorli, who represented King Agorkoli IV of Notsie in Togo, the ancestral home of the Ewes, noted the “very important” call by the Agbogbomefia.
“This initiative by Togbe to unite us has to be received by all,” he said, calling on chiefs to rally around the call, and noting Togbe Afede’s commitment, since his enstoolment, to the cause of uniting the Eweland.
Togbe Dzidzorli said the community in Togo would help ensure the initiative succeeds.
Osie Adzah Terkpor VII of Avatime, who represented the Volta Region House of Chiefs, also welcomed the initiative and called on traditional leaders to seize the opportunity.
He said chiefs in the Volta Region would walk along the unity call and said the formation of committees of traditional leaders for the various blocks of the Continent should be considered.
Chiefs at the summit endorsed the idea and called to ensure it made use of young and intellectual resources among the lineup of traditional leaders, towards securing the desired achievements.
The summit was attended by more than 100 Ewe traditional leaders from the West African sub-region.
Present also was Divine Bosson, Municipal Chief Executive of Ho, and Lydia Aziato, Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS).
Source: GNA