Chief to throw out tourists from Elmina Castle over cash

The Omanhene of Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah VI, has threatened to stop tourists from visiting the Elmina Castle if government fails to allocate part of the revenue generated from the area to the traditional council.

He has subsequently issued a two-week ultimatum to the appropriate authorities to either address his concerns or will be compelled to carry through his threat.

According to him, the Edina Traditional Council has not benefitted from proceeds accrued from tourists’ visits to the Elimina Castle since 2009 and therefore appealed to the government, museums and monuments board to as matter of urgency allocate a quota of the revenue generated from the Elmina castle to the traditional area for development purposes.

He stated that the castle is one of the most visited tourist sites in the country, yet the Elmina Traditional area do not benefit any quota of the revenue generated and therefore reiterated his threat to close down the facility to prevent tourists from visiting the facility if the authorities fail to give them their share of the proceeds.

Nana Conduah IV observed that Edina Bakatue festival contributes immensely to the tourism industry in country hence the area receives up to 400,000 foreign visitors annually.

According to the Omanhene, during former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, some money was given to the traditional area after similar appeals were made but since then nothing has been received again.

The chief explained that the money received was used to enroll some needy but brilliant students within the area into schools, adding that there are many other important sectors the revenue could channeled to

He used the festival to urge the citizens of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) traditional council to stop trafficking children to work in places against their wish.

This year’s Edina Bakatue festival was under the theme “Buy made in Ghana Goods, Use made in Ghana Products, Promote made in Ghanaian industries and created jobs for the youth”.