Have celebrates ‘Agadevi’ festival
Have, a trading, farming and woodwork community in the Afadjato South district of the Volta Region went agog when the people celebrated the 80th edition of the “Agadevi” festival.
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The name “Agadevi” which means “ the mountain broke into fragments” was derived from a major landslide that occurred on June 15, 1933 on a section of the Akwapim-Togo Range where Have is located.
The people, therefore, instituted the festival to celebrate their narrow escape from annihilation which they attributed to divine grace upon the town.
The grand durbar , which was characterised with pomp and pageantry with a mixed grill of “Borborbor”, was graced by 18 paramount chiefs from the region.
The theme for this year’s festival was, “Have Agadevi at 80: Our Citizenship and Development; a shared responsibility”.
In a speech read on his behalf , the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Bani, commended the people for using the festival to promote unity and provide the developmental needs of the community.
Mr Bani said the development of Have, Afadjato South and the country as a whole was a shared responsibility between the rulers and the ruled, adding it was the aim of the district assembly to champion the development of all communities.
He recalled the recent re-inauguration of the Have Market which had been dormant for several years and expressed delight that economic activities had picked up rapidly and business was already booming.
He announced that a new police station would be constructed for Have by the close of the year and added that several other projects were in the offing for all communities in the district.
In a welcome address, the Paramount Chief of Have,Togbega Asemtsyra IX, recalled that the community launched a self-help initiative for the construction of an ultra-modern community library/ town hall complex in 2008.
He said the celebration was aimed at mobilising the resources necessary for the completion of the project to raise the level of education, facilitate local governance and in general, improve the quality of life of the people.
Three persons were awarded for their outstanding contributions to the development of the area.
They were Mr Obed Kofi Atubra, Mr Z.K Atrima and Mr David Ziga, (posthumously), a renowned ceramist.