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Regional News of Sunday, 29 August 2010

Source: GNA

Citizens of Se Traditional Area challenged to rebuild state

Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - Nene Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, Development Chief (Suapolor) of the Se Traditional Area has called on the people to mobilize the necessary resources to rebuild the area.

"Our area has great potential for agriculture as we produce mango, ethno-medicinal plants while most of the quarries in the country are located in the area. Again many houses and even the Tema Harbour were constructed with sand from the Se land and quarries," he said.

Nene Drolor Adamtey, a North Carolina based Preacher and Author, known in private life as Dr Kingsley Fletcher, said the time had come for the people of Se to assert themselves and put to rest conflicts and self-interest for the forward-march of the area.

He said this when addressing a press conference in Accra on Saturday under the topic: 93Resolving the Development Challenges in Se".

Nene Adamtey said despite the rich history and attraction of the area, very little was known about it in recent times and pledged to work to "restore the dignity of Se by clearing the way of forces of conflict, disturbances and the disdain in which the Se leadership and the people are held".

Se, which comprises of towns such as Dodowa, Ayikuma, Kordiabe, Doryumu and Agomeda and shares boundaries with various communities near Accra, is bedevilled with a number of issues including land litigations which retarded the progress of the area.

However, Nene Drolor Adamtey, said there was still light at the end of the tunnel adding there were still honest and dedicated chiefs and people in the area who could team up to restore its good image.

"If we fail, the self-seekers will continue to apply the divide and rule tactics to break our front and take over our possession," he said.

He therefore called for an end to the indiscriminate sale of lands by unauthorized individuals in the area who also failed to account for proceeds of such acts.

"We call for land reforms such that proceeds from land sales, be it stool or family, go to benefit the people instead of line the pockets of few individuals. We shall not allow unscrupulous people to take advantage of the land tenure system to divide and exploit us," he said.

Nene Drolor Adamtey called on indigenes to resist injustices that retarded the progress of the area and encourage the people to put things right by demanding transparency and accountability in land sales.

He said it was not his intention to usurp the roles of others; instead "the wrong things done in the past must no longer be tolerated and those who perpetrated these wrongs must mend their ways and resolve to save Se from the exploitation".

He corrected the erroneous impression that Se was synonymous with Shai Traditional Area, saying 93we are not Shai, we are the Se people, and speak the Se language within the Dangme Area".

He said the continued reference to the Se people as the Shai, had impacted negatively on the confidence levels of the people. GNA