Banda Traditional Council cautions youth to remain calm

Kwansiafamu Oseadeeyo Barima Kofi Anim Anyan Hantali I, the Abremponghene of the Banda Traditional Area has cautioned the Banda youth to remain calm and avoid any act of lawlessness for sustainable peace in the area.

Kwansiafamu Hantali I who is traditionally next to Osabarima Kwadwo Sito I the paramount chief, gave the caution in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Banda-Ahenkro in the Banda District of Bono Region.

This followed an observation by the Council that the youth of Banda, for their desire to protect the Bui Dam from collapse wanted to attack a group of people from ‘Gonjaland ’who have illegally settled at Dokokyina, Bui Village and Akanyakrom where the indigenous people (original settlers) had been re-settled at Banda-Ahenkro for their own safety and that of the Bui Dam.

Kwansiafamu Hantali I counseled the youth to be patient as the Traditional Council was taking the right approach to avoid conflict and violence between the illegal ‘Gonja’ settlers and the Banda people.

The Chief expressed worry that the illegal settlers were also seriously engaging in ‘galamsey’ (illegal mining activities) that had become a big threat not only to the sustainability of the Bui Dam but the peace of the people in the traditional area and Ghanaians in general.

He said the Council found it provocative that those “trespassers” had even installed a Chief to superintend the illegality as well as wrongly plundering the land, food crop and cashew farms of the Banda people, warning that; “we are not going to allow land grab by anybody”.

Kwansiafamu Hantali I further assured that the Council would be persisting for the Bono Regional Security Council, National Security and other state security apparatus to step in to ensure the removal of the illegal settlers to save the Bui Dam.

According to him, the Black Volta was the borderline between Bono and ‘Gonjaland’, and that it was mind boggling, why any ‘Gonja’ must attempt to re-draw the boundary.

“Things would no more continue the way they were going, because, the patience of the people in the traditional area was running thin”, he stressed.

The youth led by Mr. Asoma Taylor popularly known as ‘Osama’ in another interview insisted that, they had waited for too long, hinting that “if there is no positive response, we would advise ourselves”.

Mr. Taylor said they had been struggling to understand why anybody should be permitted to settle at the Bui Dam Site, if the original owners of the land had been forced out.