Rawlings joins Avatime Chiefs to mark ‘Amu’ festival

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has urged television stations to showcase the richness and beauty of Ghana’s countryside, its cultural diversities and values, and spare the citizenry an overdose of “miracle” sessions which only perpetuate ignorance and enrich a few.

He said owners of TV stations would do the nation good by taking off their networks those sessions, unless their authenticity could be scientifically proven.

Former President Rawlings made the call when he addressed a durbar to climax the 2014 Amu (brown rice) Festival of the chiefs and people of the Avatime Traditional Area at Avatime Gbadzeme in the Volta Region.

It was under the theme: “Unity and development in Avatime, through brown rice culture and eco-tourism.”

Former President Rawlings lamented that such displays on television were perpetuating ignorance among the citizenry, paving the way for a few to rip off the people in all spheres of life, including politics.

He said the people must instead be educated and encouraged to question and probe whatever they saw and were told.

Former President Rawlings praised former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for ordering such TV programmes to be taken off television screens when they fail in proving their scientific and logical soundness.

The occasion was chaired by Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, Akwamuhene, a gesture former President noted must be emulated by other traditional areas to forge cohesion, unity and understanding.