ICTs and Traditional Governance in Ghana

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ICTs and Traditional Governance in Ghana

• Dr. Irene K. Odotei
• Member of Presidential Commission on Chieftaincy
  and Traditional Governance
• Director of Governance, Culture Devt,
  University of Ghana

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Ghanas Vision

• Ghana recognizes that to modernize and develop
  its economy and society in the emerging
  information and technological age, the nation
  will need to embrace ICTs
• Ghanas vision is to improve the quality of
  life of the people of Ghana by significantly
  enriching their social, economic and cultural
  well-being through the rapid development and
  modernization of economic and society using ICTs
  as the main engine for accelerated and
  sustainable economic and social development

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The Quest for Good Governance- A major Challenge

• Has to reckon with a dual nature - The Western
  and Traditional forms

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The Resilient Nature ofInstitutions of
Traditional Governance

• Today, the Western forms with their attendant
  political and administrative structures dominate
  at the national and regional levels
• In the main, however, inadequate infrastructure
  and poverty, which hamper access to state
  agencies of security, justice and health as well
  as the appreciation of the traditional
  institutions of governance as representative of
  the traditions and cultures of the people, has
  ensured that Western forms of governance share
  the responsibility of governance at the district
  and community level with traditional authority,
  mainly chiefs

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The New Role of the Chief

• Colonial and post-colonial governments eroded the
  authority of traditional institutions of
  governance
• Now government, chiefs and the ordinary Ghanaian
  rising to the challenges of modernisation and
  democratisation are seeing the role of the chief
  as a critical agent of good governance and
  development

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The New Role of the Chief

• But though there is no doubt that traditional
  governance has a lot to offer, any attempt,
  however, to incorporate it into mainstream
  constitutional rule would require
• some preparation
• some capacity building

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New Initiatives

• New initiatives are therefore required to
• facilitate and accelerate the growth, development
  and subsequent incorporation of a system of
  governance sensitive to the culture and history
  of Ghanaians into mainstream governance
• Build partnership at the village people to
  involve local communities

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Two projects emerged

• Governance, Culture and Development Project
  supported by OSIWA and Ford Foundation
• Capacity building for traditional leaders and
  their administrative structures
• Infrastructural support
• Village e-strategy development (VICIs)
  supported by ECA

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Governance, Culture and Development Project
Objectives (1/2)

• Use ICTs to develop the institutional capacity of
  the chieftaincy and traditional governance
  institutions to enhance interactions among
  traditional governance institutions between
  traditional governance institutions and citizens.
  More specifically to bring citizens into closer
  contact with traditional government institutions,
  bridge the divide between traditional governance
  institutions, local governance and central
  Administration with the objective of closing the
  yawing democratic gap

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Governance, Culture and Development Project
Objectives (2/2)

• Use ICTs for capacity building for chiefs,
  traditional governance institutions and their
  support staff.
• Use ICTs to generate greater awareness of
  traditional governance issues, thereby enabling
  citizens to gain access to critical information
  in a speedy and user-friendly fashion.
• Run seminars for traditional governance leaders
  and their administrators on intellectual property
  rights.

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Governance, Culture and Development Project
Activities

• ICT Training workshops
• Training to Secretaries of Houses of Chiefs
• Registrars of the regional Houses of Chiefs
• Registrars of selected traditional councils
• Interactive seminars with traditional leaders
• To sensitise leaders on the information society
  issues and IPRs and to get their support for the
  project
• Digitisation of records on indigenous knowledge
• Installation and connectivity
• National House of Chiefs
• All the regional Houses of Chiefs
• The Chieftaincy Secretariat
• Challenge INFRASTRUCTUIRE !

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Village e-Strategies (VICIs) the case of Ghana
(AMANOKROM PROJECT)

• VICI Amanokrom is a response to take the
  national vision to the rural community the
  basis of Ghanaian society

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Amanokrom
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Ghana VICI Objectives

• Develop human resources
• Generate job opportunities
• Advance economic development
• Help build and sustain good governance as a tool
  for peaceful co-existence

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Ghana VICI The Process

• Notification and consultations
• Ghana VICI Methodology
• Interviews
• Administration of questionnaire
• Participant observation
• Archival search

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Ghana VICI Priority Focus Areas

• A Globally Competitive Local ICT Industry
• A critical aspect of the growth and
  development of key areas of the Amanokrom
  political economy involves the development of
  globally competitive local ICT industry expressly
  focused on the development, production and
  distribution of information, knowledge, and
  technology products and services. The key areas
  are
• Human Resource Development
• Education
• Agriculture
• The private sector
• Local governance and administration
• Health

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Ghana VICI Development Challenges (1/2)

• Relatively high population growth rate 2.5 ( a
  reflection of the national picture)
• Relatively youthful population
• High illiteracy rate with about 40 of the
  population above age six years without any form
  of formal education
• The community is part of a country situation
  where about 40 live below the poverty line (less
  than US1)

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Ghana VICI Development Challenges (2/2)

• Amanokrom has a mainly subsistence agricultural
  based economy. In addition, about 70 of the
  total agricultural workforce is illiterate. It
  is significant to note that women constitute the
  highest percentage of the workforce
• Amanokrom has a narrow industrial base
• An informal private sector hardly possessing any
  potential to generate additional jobs
• A dynamic service sector and an enhanced research
  and development capacity

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Ghana VICI Findings

• The needs assessment was done to find out the
  existing ICT resources and potential in
  Amanokrom. The main findings of the needs
  assessment are presented in the following slides

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Ghana VICI Ownership

• Traditional leaders
• Communities
• Project management

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The Way Forward

• Training programme to continue to include the
  chiefs
• Use of VSAT technology rather than dial-up
• Finding ways of providing adequate ICT equipment
  for local governance
• Continue with digitisation of indigenous
  knowledge records
• Ensure sustainability through multi-stakeholder
  partnerships
• Integrating VICI strategy into the national
  e-strategy and soliciting support for
  implementation

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THANK YOU