Veep deplores chieftaincy, land disputes
Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has deplored the many land litigations and chieftaincy disputes in the Greater Accra Region, which, he said, threatened the peace and development of the nation.
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He said the disputes that had inundated the courts and the regional house of chiefs comprised cases of successions and land ownership, which have created conditions for the needless recruitment of land guards.
Mr Amissah-Arthur was particularly worried about the violence land guards visited on innocent people.
Addressing a grand durbar of chiefs of the Greater Accra Region to open Homofest, to climax this year’s Homowo Festival in Accra on Saturday, Mr Amissah-Arthur said land disputes and the resort to violence to resolve them created uncertainty and insecurity for investors.
“It is domestic and external investors that create the opportunities and jobs that sustain livelihoods,” the Vice-President pointed out.
The durbar, which had the theme, “Unity and Development”, assembled political appointees and traditional authorities in the Greater Accra Region.
Homofest coincided with World Tourism Day, which was commemorated worldwide on the theme, “Tourism and Community Development.”
Mr Amissah-Arthur described the theme for Homofest as significant for the fact that culture was used as a driving force to accelerate the socio-cultural advancement of communities and said the event also demonstrated how the people of Ga-Dangme were using Homofest to galvanise the chiefs and people to promote the development of the Greater Accra Region.
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“I hope this event will come to stay as it re-emphasises the fact that culture brings people together and that with unity, we will achieve a common goal,” the Vice-President said.
Cholera
On the issue of the cholera outbreak that has claimed many lives, Mr Amissah-Arthur reiterated his call on the public to observe good environmental practices, stressing that “we cannot create the filth and expect somebody to come and clean it for us”.
He said occasions such as Homofest were good platforms to create collaboration among the district assemblies in the region to mobilise the people to clean up the communities.
Regional Minister
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, earlier in his welcome address, underlined the need for the people in the area to be one another’s keeper while urging them to use Homofest to show the rich cultural heritage of the Ga-Dangme people.
Nii Afotey-Agbo echoed the Vice-President’s call for good sanitation and added that Homofest was being celebrated at a time the need for good sanitation had become very necessary and called on the people to keep their communities clean to avoid the spread of diseases.
Tourism Minister
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, said the ministry saw great tourism potential in the sacred rituals and the outdoor activities of the various festivals celebrated in the Greater Accra Region.
There were solidarity messages from the Minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Henry Seidu Daannaah, and a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Nii Lante Vanderpuye.
The Vice-President had earlier joined mourners at the State House for the funeral and burial service of a former Head of the Civil Service, Mr Joe Donkor Issachar, who died on July 1, 2014, after a short illness.
Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh