PESSE AKWAMU, E/R. – The Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Administration, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to partnering traditional leaders to drive development across the country.
She said the government, under President John Dramani Mahama, had over the past two years championed a wide range of multisectoral initiatives aimed at strengthening decentralisation, community development, chieftaincy, culture and heritage.
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo made the remarks at this year’s Yaw Festival and the first-anniversary celebration of the Queen Mother of Kamena.
She noted that festivals had, over the years, taken on a modern dimension, with events that were once observed strictly within traditional communities now attracting visitors from across Ghana and beyond.
According to her, the growing use of social media and traditional media platforms had also expanded the reach of the festivals beyond the traditional rituals and durbar.
She said in many traditional areas, the goodwill and resources generated through festivals were increasingly being channelled into scholarships, infrastructure and other community development projects, describing the trend as a positive evolution.
The Deputy Chief of Staff assured traditional leaders of the government’s readiness to support their development efforts.
She said the government would continue to implement multisectoral initiatives to promote national development, with particular attention to decentralisation, chieftaincy, culture and heritage.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Kamena, Okotwasuo Osae Nyampong, has expressed concern over what he described as the prolonged neglect of Kamena and other resettlement communities following the construction of the Akosombo Dam about 70 years ago.
He said several promises made to the affected communities after they sacrificed their lands for the national project remained unfulfilled, including the payment of compensation to affected families.
Okotwasuo Osae Nyampong called for the immediate establishment of a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the continued neglect of the resettlement communities and the failure to fulfil outstanding commitments.
He said the people had made significant sacrifices to pave the way for the dam project, which had served the nation for decades, and deserved to receive the compensation and other benefits promised to them.
On education, the Chief disclosed that the only Senior High School in the area was facing serious infrastructural challenges.
He therefore appealed to the government and other stakeholders to support the school with the needed infrastructure to improve teaching and learning.
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