Klefe climaxes Zendo Glimetso Za, Yam Festival with durbar
There was an awesome display of culture, tradition, pomp and circumstance at Klefe in the Ho municipality last Saturday, when the chiefs and people of the traditional area climaxed their Zendo Glimetso Za (exodus from Notsie, Togo) and the Klefe Yam Festival with a mammoth durbar.
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They were joined by their kinsmen from Klikor, Kpeve, Tsibu and Tsoxor to mark the event on the theme: “Re-energising cultural heritage for tourism, education and development.
”Also present at the grand durbar were chiefs from neighbouring Ziavi.
This year’s celebration was meant to raise funds to complete work on the workshop and hostel projects for the Klefe Technical Institute.
President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in a speech reach on his behalf, commended the people of Klefe for the bold step to establish a technical school at a time the need for hands-on skills was most required for national development.
The president gave an assurance that the government would support the Klefe Technical School with zeal and resources for quality teaching, learning and increased enrolment at the school.
The President said apart from supporting education with priority, the government was also exploring various avenues to make agriculture attractive to the youth and to enable them to earn decent incomes from the sector.
“We want the youth to get involved seriously in agriculture where they could make a lot of money,” he added.
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Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo observed that it was high time the people of Klefe packaged their rich, splendid, diverse and unique culture for lucrative tourism.
Alien culture
He entreated the people of Klefe and other traditional areas to fiercely resist the infiltration of alien and shady lifestyles into their morally upright culture, saying: “Let us preserve our heritage for our children.”
The President said it was time schools pursued a vigorous scheme to demystify the Ghanaian culture, which he said was not a religion but rather ethos to unify the people.
“Our culture must be seen as a formidable force to unite the nation rather than dividing the people,” he said.
The Minister of Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, who read the President’s speech, said the value which the people of Klefe placed on education testified to their strong and patriotic stance to support national development.
He later presented an amount of GH¢20,000 on behalf of the President to the chiefs of Klefe in aid of their development projects, and an additional GH¢5,000 from the Ministry of Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, meant for the flood victims in southern Volta Region.
Target
The Fiaga of Klefe, Togbe Koku Dzaga XI, said the celebration’s target was to raise GH¢1 million for the Klefe Technical School projects, adding that the amount would be complemented with communal labour to ensure a timely execution of the projects.
He appealed to the government for more funding to increase access and improve teaching and learning conditions at the school, and to promote the development of technical skills.
“In addition to an infrastructural deficit, we lack the necessary tools and machinery to help the practical aspects of the training,” Togbe Dzaga said.
He thanked the government for the completion of Phase 1 of the Klefe Town Roads project, and requested for the award of the second phase of the project, in addition to work on the road between Klefe-Demete and Akrofu-Bame, and the stretch between Demete and Hoviefe junction.
The Fiaga of Klefe announced that the traditional authorities had instituted careers in technology programmes, with partnership from byteAfrica, in the areas of coding, robotics, and drone knowledge for the youth.
He said the purpose was to extend various technology options to the beneficiaries as alternative career paths.
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