Chiefs ought to speak against bad governance

..and corruption

Saviefe (V/R), Nov. 5, GNA-Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of the Asogli traditional area on Saturday called on chiefs to speak against bad governance and corruption.

This was because they owed it as a duty to their people and the government not to allow a few people to enrich themselves, thereby destroying the future of the larger community.

Togbe Afede said this at the celebration of this year's Saviefe-Akrofu-Sovie-Alavanyo Development Union (SASADU) Festival at Saviefe.

He observed that excessive pursuit of materialism was fast becoming part of the Ghanaian culture and a distortion of the nation's priorities, which traditional rulers should confront.

" As traditional rulers, we should always bear in mind our responsibility to bring development to our areas and to lead the fight to change the attitude of our people, while we try to unite and inspire them so that we can confront our urgent developmental needs", he stated. Togbe Afede asserted that one of the strategies of dishonest "local officals" was to exclude chiefs from what they (the officials) do. He said the conduct of such "local politicians," especially elected officials and government appointees was critical to ensuring socio-economic development of the communities and called on chiefs and opinion leaders to frequently demand accountability of stewardship from the "local politicians".

" We must have the courage to fight the corruption that is diverting our developmental resources into private pockets", Togbe Afede said.

He urged chiefs to inculcate into the citizenry the virtues of truthfulness, hard work, positive thinking and perseverance to enhance a sincere pursuit of the best interest of the nation.

Togbe Afede asked them to encourage their subjects to participate in local governance and support government programmes so that the country's development aspirations could be achieved.

Mr William Segbedeku, General Secretary of the Union, in an address re-affirmed the commitment of the people of Alavanyo to peace in the area.
He said as a result of that commitment, "the people have resolved to melt the barrels of their guns and reshape them into land tillage implements such as hoes and cutlasses".

Mr. Segbedeku said the people had also turned the disputed field areas into a " bread basket" to feed the ex-combatants and find jobs for them instead of using the land as a battlefield.

He said the youths of the two communities (Alavanyo and Nkonya) were also being taken through mental rehabilitation exercise to transform their orientation from the militant and combatant posture into a more civil and accommodating attitude.

Mr Segbedeku expressed gratitude to government for initiating the peace move and urged it to remain committed to the peace process until all issues were resolved.

He appealed to the government to endeavour to work on the road passing through some SASADU towns and linking Ghana to Togo to improve trade relations between the two countries. Mr. Joseph Kwaku Nayan, Deputy Volta Regional Minister underscored the importance of unity to development and commended the four traditional areas forming the SASADU for upholding unity and peace despite many challenges.

He called on the people to support the government and take advantage of the numerous programmes initiated by government including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to improve on their living conditions.