The Role of the Traditional Rulers in the Fight Against Covid 19 in Ghana

Abstract

The outbreak of the health pandemic, novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID19) in Ghana brought untold hardship to Ghanaians in the form of loss of jobs increase in prices of certain essential items such as hand sanitizers, nose masks and food in the face of a three week lock down in Accra, the national capital and Kumasi, the regional capital of the Asante region stretched government beyond limits because Kumasi which serves as the neck between the north and south of the country had its economic activity halted. In the heat of this situation the greatly affected people were the vulnerable in society who hardly can make ends meet. However, since shouldering of state responsibilities and assisting the poor in society cannot be the responsibility of the state alone, in instances where push comes to shove, both state and non-state actors all lend a helping hand to the government to help deal with such difficulty situations. One particular non state actor that on a number of occasions have lived up to its calling has been traditional rulers. The fourth republican constitution of Ghana which was promulgated in 1992 recognises traditional rule and gives the actors in charge the powers to perform some non-statutory functions in their areas of jurisdiction to promote the wellbeing of their people. It is in the face of this mandate that the paper examines the role the traditional rulers played in the fight of the outbreak of the COVID 19 in Ghana. The paper uses the content analysis approach to explore the support traditional rulers offered the Ghanaian populace based on news reportage to help ameliorate the suffering of their subjects during the pandemic period by way of giving handouts, providing both cooked and dry foods and sanitary items to the masses to help reduce their burden in the pandemic period. Based on what most of the traditional rulers did, the paper concludes that traditional rulers in Ghana as non-state actors, are a force to reckon with and a solid partner to government in providing the needs of the country.