By Mathew Kanu in Makeni
Woman Paramount Chief, Melrose Foster Gberie III of Kpanda Kemo Chiefdom in the Bonthe District says the constitutional review process should consider the eligibility of women to become Paramount Chiefs in the north of Sierra Leone.
At present a woman is barred from ascending to the throne of the highest and very powerful traditional institution simply because of her gender which many have referred to as misogynistic.
Chief Gberie was speaking at a three-day initial consultation in Makeni on the constitutional review process with the National Council of Paramount Chiefs, funded by UNIPSIL.
The meeting looked at chapters and sections of the 1991 constitution to get the paramount chiefs acquainted with the process.
She expressed happiness for the involvement of her institution in the constitutional review process but expressed concern over the number of female paramount chiefs and women representation in general in the various spheres of the country.
“The empowerment of women in this constitutional review is key, that is why when we go back home we will share with our subjects what we have learned here” she said, adding “We want more women in chieftaincy because we are just 14 in the country” out of 149 chiefdoms.
She suggested that it should be embedded in the new constitution that Northern Sierra Leone should allow women to become Paramount Chiefs. “Men and women should have the right to the throne and this should be taken into serious consideration during the review process” she went on, adding “I believe that this process will unite us and will build a future for our children and children yet unborn.”
Speaking to Politico, the Northern Region Chairman of the Council of Paramount Chiefs, Bai Sheborah Kasangha II, said the constitution was the national bible and Quran for all Sierra Leoneans. He said chiefs belonged to one of the important institutions in the country.
“Where it is necessary to review we will agree or disagree on how we want the country to move forward in relation to chieftaincy” he said, adding “the chieftaincy by itself is a democratic institution despite the challenges and pressure of other schools of thought to hold periodic elections for paramount chiefs.”
However Chief Kasanga said that “to be a Paramount Chief you have to belong to a ruling house. But we have started the process and we are ready to face a debate, face the critics and the populace to listen to what they will say about chieftaincy and to agree or disagree”.
He assured that they were ready as paramount chiefs and were “very dynamic”.
Paramount Chief of Paki Masabong Chiefdom, Masapaki Ka Bonbong III said that to ensure the full involvement of paramount chiefs in the review process the committee should think of increasing their number from one representative to at least three so that each region would have one representative.
“Anything that concerns our people is our concern” he said. He also urged the committee to consider conditions of service for paramount chiefs which he said should be “encouraging”. On the involvement of women in the chieftaincy in the northern region he said that was purely traditional, adding that it should be a gradual process. “We are looking forward to seeing a new constitution that will serve the general good of all sierra Leoneans” he said.
Admonishing the paramount chiefs, chairman of the constitutional review committee Justice Edmond Cawan said traditional rulers had an important role to play in the development of the country and the review was one of them. He said the involvement of the paramount chefs in the constitutional review process would take the process to the chiefdom level in rural Sierra Leone.
“The constitution is the life of the people of the country” Cowan said, adding that the review would be fair because no one would be allowed to pile pressure on anyone.
“If this process is to succeed” he went on, “we have to work together as Sierra Leoneans regardless of who you be”. He said that chiefs were in the centre of it all.
© Politico 08/10/13
