Wa, Nov. 2, GNA - Work on the restoration of the dilapidated Wa Naa's Palace to its original status as a World heritage monument is progressing smoothly, under the supervision of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. The project which started in February this year, is expected to be partially completed by December this year for immediate occupation by the traditional care takers of the structure, until the chieftaincy dispute is resolved and a new chief installed.

The palace became dilapidated because it had no occupant as a result of counter claims to the Wa skin since its last occupant, Naa Momori Bondiri died in 1998.

At a stakeholders meeting to assess the work at the weekend, which was attended by leading members of the four royal gates of the Wa skin, Mr. Anthony Yaw Owusu, Architect/Conservator of the Board, called on the royal gates to bury their differences and assist them to put the palace in the right shape.

"Since you are the owners of the palace you know how the original palace looked like, we are ready to hear your suggestions and criticisms to enable us correct any defects in the restoration of the building," he said. During an open forum, some of the elders said it would be fruitless to renovate the palace without a chief to occupy it. They therefore called for unity to prevail, for the town to get a chief who would be acceptable to all its citizens. The Palace and the Nakori Mosque are the only World heritage monuments in the Wa Municipality.