Speaker Alban Bagbin has questioned why chiefs are not allowed to participate in politics, saying that for traditional leaders to hold positions in the legislature, Ghana’s governance structure needs to change.

He said: “Our current Constitution is wrong to say that chiefs should not participate in active politics. Chiefs lead communities to develop and politics is also about development. If we say they can’t do the politics, who else can do it?”

Mr. Bagbin made the statement during a courtesy call on Nyelinbulgu-Naa Yakubu Andani Dasana, the Regent of Bimbilla, at the Gmantambo Palace in Bimbilla.

During his visit, he wanted to thank the Regent for his efforts to keep the peace and ask for support for the government as Parliament celebrated 30 years of democratic rule.

According to Mr. Bagbin, the nation’s democracy was anchored by its traditional leaders, saying “True leaders of the country are not politicians, they are our traditional leaders.”

He said that if elders hadn’t been included in the parliaments of nations like Senegal and Botswana, those governments would have fallen.

This, he said, ought to be imitated in Ghana in order to maintain decorum in the legislature and in governance, since traditional leaders were respected and were regarded as disciplined.