Establish high court in Bono East — Techimanhene

The Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Area, Oseadeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, has appealed to the Judicial Service for the establishment of a high court in the Bono East Region.

That, according to him, would ensure that the services of the high court were made available at the doorstep of people in the region.

Currently, the nearest high courts to people in the region are the Sunyani and Wenchi high courts, both of which are in the Bono Region.

Oseadeyo Ameyaw, who is also a member of the Council of State, made the appeal when the Bono East Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, paid a courtesy call on him last Friday to introduce himself.

Chieftaincy problems

Welcoming the regional minister, Oseadeyo Ameyaw expressed concern about the numerous chieftaincy problems in the region.

He said the quest to develop Bono East, which is one of the six newly-created regions, would be a mirage if  chieftaincy disputes were not solved.

According to him, only five, out of the 19 traditional councils in the region, were working effectively because of unresolved disputes.

Oseadeyo Ameyaw, therefore, called on the regional minister to institute measures to ensure that such disputes were resolved to enable the chiefs to rally behind him for development.

Misinformation

He urged the minister not to depend on misinformation purported to have come from chiefs but rather verify such information before acting on them.

Oseadeyo Ameyaw cited an instance where his order to ban the Okada business in the business centre of Techiman was misconstrued as an order to sack people of northern extraction from Techiman.

He commended the minister for the role he played in getting the region created and urged him to continue with that zeal to build on the achievements of his predecessor.

For his part, Mr Adu-Gyan thanked the chiefs in the region for the support he had received from them since the President nominated him as the second regional minister.

He also acknowledged the role played by the chiefs, more especially for conceiving the idea of getting the Bono East Region created.

Mr Adu-Gyan, however, appealed to the chiefs to release lands for commercial farming, which is one of his four pillars to ensure accelerated development in the region and beyond.

He gave assurance that his office was ready to work with chiefs to harness untapped resources in the region to create jobs for the people.

Later at a meeting with the staff of the Techiman Municipal Assembly, Mr Adu-Gyan called for their support to continue to enable him to deliver on his mandate.

He urged them to adopt new methods to generate more revenue internally, instead of relying entirely on grants from the central government and donor agencies.