Upper West Hosts NAFAC 2005

Wa, March 17, GNA- Prof George Hagan, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), on Thursday inaugurated a 34- member national planning committee of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) 2005 to be hosted by the Upper West Region at Wa.

The committee, made up of traditional rulers, three members of the NCC board and other stake holders has three women on the committee under the chairmanship of the Gwollu Kuoro, Buktie Limann, Paramount Chief of the Gwollu Traditional Area.

Among its functions, the committee is charged with the responsibility of planning, organizing and preparing the budget, raising funds as well as setting up relevant sub-committees.

It will also co-ordinate and supervise plans as well as to liase with the NCC board and the regional co-ordinating council on all plans relating to NAFAC 2005.

Prof Hagan said the committee is expected to submit its report to the NCC board three months after it had been inaugurated. He said 19 billion cedis had been approved under the state budget for the completion of NCC projects out of which he had ear marked 1.2 billion cedis for the completion of NCC office in Wa. Prof Hagan said the holding of NAFAC 2005 in Wa would complete the cycle of holding the festival on rotation basis among all the 10 regions.

He underscored the unifying factor of culture, particularly the NAFAC festival that brings Ghanaians to a particular region to show case their culture and traditions.

Mr Ambrose Dery, the Upper West Regional Minister, said the hosting of the festival would offer the region the opportunity to show case its rich culture as well as its cultural products that could be harnessed for socio-economic development.

He urged the people of the region to discard negative cultural practices such as female genital mutilation and widow inheritance. Kuoro Buktie Limann said the committee would live up to expectation by organizing a successful NAFAC 2005.