Thank you, Mr Chairman.
Mr Chairman, with your kind permission, I would like to do the right thing by bowing -- [He turns to the Paramount Chief and bows] -- to our great Paramount Chief of Tongo, who is related to my tribe, the Dagaatis.
Mr Chairman, I did say earlier when I had an opportunity to signal to the House, that there will be this particular day for us to have the opportunity to eulogise our Hon Colleague's ascendancy to the great office of a paramount chief. I stated that -- I think I was quoting Bob Marley:
“Who Jah bless, no one curse.”
My Brother, you are blessed and no curse will ever affect you.
I did state that even from birth, Nachinab is an indication, it is heralding the fact that he will be a great chief in future. If a person is the chief of the youth, definitely, subject to good behaviour, that person becomes the chief of adults.
Mr Chairman, we can see the difference between the Hon Member of Parliament, Hon Robert Nachinab Doameng Mosore and the Paramount Chief, Tongoranaa as he sits before us. There is a vast difference just within this short period. It is because of the ambiance of office, the dignity and honour which go with that office and the environment which is created round that office.
This has transformed him within this short time and now, nobody can fail to give honour to whom honour is due. So, we can see the regalia, the dignity and the reverence which go with that office. Congratulations, Sir.
Let me say that a lot has already been said and I agree with Hon Members that we are making history today. I believe that it is good history, which will be followed in future.
Mr Chairman, we have also been given the history by the Hon Deputy Minority Leader and all from my research, took place around the 11th Century. That skin is a very significant one. This is because from the conclusion and judgement of his people, including his illustrious Royal Majesty, the Mamprusi Nayiri, he has dis- tinguished himself as a person of good character, competence and care. We believe that he will be in the position to care for his people.
I will only call on him that in discharging this onerous responsibility, please, try and project to al l that chieftaincy now, is an instrument of development, chieftaincy now, is an instrument for change, change for the better.
We have as a people developed a system in which sustainability matters. That is why in our traditional setting, we deal with evolution and we do not deal with revolution. This is because evolution leads to sustainability, but revolution is short-lived with disastrous conse- quences. Usually, it is short-lived and it is meant to give what we call short therapy and if taken carefully, we evolve the system to a better condition. So, I would want him to focus on that.
Together with his colleagues, he should also try to get the political leadership of this country to accept that we cannot succeed in decentralisation without properly positioning the institution of chieftaincy; we cannot.
From his experience and his great credentials, I expect him to assist the
National House of Chiefs, which he qualifies to be a member, to also resolve the conflict between the fact that politics should have nothing to do with chieftaincy, yet the chief should be remunerated by the Government.
We will need to resolve that to be able -- This is because the traditional system is not static, but it is dynamic. We would need to go through all that because research by the French shows why the French colonies are experiencing crisis, while the British, particularly Ghana, is an oasis of peace, has identified as one of the reasons -- the chieftaincy institution
