House of Chiefs

Last updated

A House of Chiefs (or House of Traditional Leaders) is a post-colonial assembly, either legislative or advisory, that is recognised by either a national or regional government as consisting of and providing a collective, public voice for an ethnic group's pre-colonial authorities. Although often influential within the indigenous culture, its members do not usually function as a modern nation's primary law-making body (cf. British House of Lords), being neither representative (i.e. democratically elected) nor consisting of members appointed individually by the government in power, whether democratic or not. It consists of all or some of the "traditional leaders", historically kings and chiefs, of a country or a sub-division thereof.

Contents

A House of Chiefs is not, constitutionally, a partisan institution within the body politic. Members of a House of Chiefs are selected neither by a universal suffrage process of those they represent nor by the state executive or legislature they advise: Their function is to express a cultural, historical and/or ethnic point of view on public policies. The process by which individuals qualify for membership varies, but is based on tradition specific to his or her (e.g. the Rain Queen) historic community or ethnic group. Sometimes the qualifying position is obtained through heredity within a local dynasty, sometimes through selection by consensus of a ritually or socially prominent subset of a community, and sometimes by a combination thereof.

Historically, chiefs were the last indigenous rulers before colonisation of a people, and their modern versions often continue to play a local cultural role of varying significance. Especially in colonial times, chiefs were often used as instruments of indirect rule, and/or convenient alternatives to elective institutions.

Examples

In the post-colonial age, various Houses of Chiefs and similar assemblies have existed in various nations:

Africa

For more check www.theafricanroyalfamilies.com website

Pacific

Other places

The term has also been used for similar pre- and post-colonial assemblies of tribal leaders, such as among certain Native American tribes.[ clarification needed ]

Alternatives

Another way to include traditional chiefs in a nation's political life is to assign them a number of seats in a wider assembly. In Zimbabwe, for example, ten chiefs are chosen to be members of the Senate, the upper house of the country's parliament. From 1990 to 2005, they were represented in the House of Assembly (now the lower house) when it was the sole legislative chamber.

Related Research Articles

These are lists of incumbents, including heads of states or of subnational entities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Nigeria</span>

The federal government of Nigeria is composed of three distinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, whose powers are vested and bestowed upon by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. One of the primary functions of the constitution is that it provides for separation and balance of powers among the three branches and aims to prevent the repetition of past mistakes made by the government. Other functions of the constitution include a division of power between the federal government and the states, and protection of various individual liberties of the nation's citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster system</span> Parliamentary system of government

The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government that incorporates a series of procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature, and that is responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. The term derives from the Palace of Westminster, which has been the seat of the Westminster Parliament in England and later the United Kingdom since the 13th century. The Westminster system is often contrasted with the presidential system that originated in the United States, or with the semi-presidential system, based on the government of France.

The history of Zambia experienced many stages from colonisation to independence from Britain on 24 October 1964. Northern Rhodesia became a British sphere of influence in the present-day region of Zambia in 1888, and was officially proclaimed a British protectorate in 1924. After many years of suggested mergers, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland were merged into the British Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Rhodesia</span> British colony in Africa (1923–1965)

Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked, self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South Zambesia until annexation by Britain, at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique) and the Transvaal Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decolonisation of Africa</span> Independence of African colonies from European powers

The decolonisation of Africa was a series of political developments in Africa that spanned from the mid-1950s to 1975, during the Cold War. Colonial governments gave way to sovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organised revolts. Major events in the decolonisation of Africa included the Mau Mau rebellion, the Algerian War, the Congo Crisis, the Angolan War of Independence, the Zanzibar Revolution, and the events leading to the Nigerian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiv people</span> West African ethnic group

Tiv are a Tivoid ethnic group. They constitute approximately 2.4% of Nigeria's total population, and number over 5 million individuals throughout Nigeria and Cameroon. The Tiv language is spoken by over 4 million people in Nigeria, with a few speakers in Cameroon. Most of the language's Nigerian speakers are found in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Cross rivers, Adamawa, Kaduna, and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. The language is a branch of Benue–Congo and ultimately of the Niger–Congo phylum. In pre-colonial times, the Fulani ethnic group referred to the Tiv as "Munchi", a term not accepted by Tiv people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ugali</span> Type of maize meal made in Africa

Ugali, also known as posho, nsima, papa, pap, sadza, isitshwala, akume, amawe, ewokple, akple, and other names, is a type of corn meal made from maize or corn flour in several African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, DRC, Malawi, Botswana and South Africa, and in West Africa by the Ewes of Togo, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire. It is cooked in boiling water or milk until it reaches a stiff or firm dough-like consistency. In 2017, the dish was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, one of a few foods in the list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Region, Nigeria</span> Administrative region in Nigeria

The Eastern Region was an administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar. The capital was later moved to Enugu and the second capital was Umuahia. The region was officially divided in 1967 into three new states, the East-Central State, Rivers State and South-Eastern State. East-Central State had its capital at Enugu, which is now part of Enugu State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Somaliland</span>

The politics of Somaliland take place within a hybrid system of governance, which, under the Somaliland constitution, combines traditional and western institutions. The constitution separates government into an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch, each of which functions independently from the others.

The Progress Party (PP) was the ruling party in Ghana during the Second Republic (1969–1972). In the 29 August 1969 elections, the PP won 105 of the National Assembly's 140 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribal chief</span> Leader of a tribal society or chiefdom

A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.

In Canada, an Indian band, First Nation band or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the Indian Act. Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in the country, the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation had 22,294 members in September 2005, and many have a membership below 100 people. Each First Nation is typically represented by a band council chaired by an elected chief, and sometimes also a hereditary chief. As of 2013, there were 614 bands in Canada. Membership in a band is controlled in one of two ways: for most bands, membership is obtained by becoming listed on the Indian Register maintained by the government. As of 2013, there were 253 First Nations which had their own membership criteria, so that not all status Indians are members of a band.

A list of former and present British colonies, dependencies and dates when they severed legal ties with Britain:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Nigeria</span> British colony and protectorate (1914-1960)

Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1 October 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.

The judiciary of Somaliland is the judicial branch of the Somaliland government.

The National Council of Chiefs is an assembly of traditional leaders throughout the Republic of Zimbabwe. The president and deputy president of the council are both members of the Senate of Zimbabwe since 2007, and the council appoints ten chiefs to the Senate; under a former constitution from 1980 to 1989, the council was charged with selecting members to the Senate.

The chieftaincy institution in Ghana is a system that structures and regulates the activity of local chieftains in the Ghanaian society and state. This institution served as the governing structure of various societies prior to European Colonisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political history of Ghana</span>

The Political history of Ghana recounts the history of varying political systems that existed in Ghana during pre-colonial times, the colonial era and after independence. Pre-colonial Ghana was made up of several states and ethnic groups whose political system was categorized by 3 main administrative models; Centralized, Non-centralized and Theocratic states. In the colonial era, the British Empire employed different forms of government among its four territorial possessions in the Gold Coast. Indirect rule was implemented in the late 19th century after its success in Northern Nigeria. From the 1940s, native Ghanaians yearned for more autonomy. This resulted in the several constitutional reforms as well as the creation of the office of the Prime Minister in 1952.

References

  1. "Constitution of the Republic of Ghana: Chapter Twenty-Two: Chieftaincy". Ghanaweb.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. Jua, Nantang Ben (1995). "Indirect Rule In Colonial And Post-Colonial Cameroon". Paideuma. 41. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. "1996 Constitution of Zambia - Part XIII (Chiefs and House of Chiefs)". The Zambian. 2004. Archived from the original on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2016.