Ahenema -Kokoben reconciles with district assembly

Ahenema-Kokoben (Ash), Nov. 17, GNA - The people of Ahenema-Kokoben last Friday smoked the peace pipe with the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District Assembly, following a rift between the town and the assembly over the purported neglect of the town in terms of development.

The people claimed that the assembly had sidelined the town in the provision of development projects and so early this year when revenue collectors of the assembly went to the town they were chased out.

The irate town's people threatened to burn the assembly's revenue mobilisation van and this marred the relationship between the town and the assembly.

Addressing a durbar organised by the chiefs and people to mark the end of hostilities, Mr B0right Addai-Mununkum, the District Chief Executive, regretted that the situation had deprived the assembly of a lot of revenue.

He said, in support of their immediate neighbours, most communities around Ahenema-Kokoben also decided not to pay revenue to the assembly thereby worsening the assembly's plight.

Mr Addai-Mununkum called on communities to desist from taking the law into their hands and seek redress through their assembly members.

He explained that the assembly's projects were demand driven through the presentation to the assembly priority projects of the communities for assistance.

The DCE told them that the NPP administration was not discriminatory in the distribution of development projects and explained that the state of the economy was, however, hindering the government from providing projects as it would have wished and therefore, appealed to them to bear with the assembly.

Nana Appau Ababio, chief of Ahenema-Kokoben called for the location of a market in the town to enhance the revenue mobilisation of the assembly in view of the peri-urban nature of the town to serve the ever-increasing population since it bordered Kumasi.

He also called for the opening of a police station in the town to help reduce the crime wave, which had reached alarming proportion.