Okyenhene Appeals to Successful Akyems

....to Help Alleviate Poverty

The Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori-Panin has appealed to successful Akyem Abuakwa citizens to help eradicate poverty and ignorance in rural communities in the traditional area.

"It is not enough for you alone to own the most beautiful house in your village, where you come to stay with friends from the big towns for weekends or funerals. You need to teach more people in the community the way to succeed so that soon, there could be many people like you in the community," he advised.

Osagyefuo Ofori-Panin made the appeal when he briefed the Second Session of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council on his recent tour of the 160 towns and villages in the traditional area.

He warned that if efforts were not made to solve the problems of want and poor education in the rural areas, the situation would soon move from the villages to face the "successful business community" in the major towns.

Okyenhene cited the example in industrialised countries where policy makers disregarded the drugs and HIV/AIDS problems at the onset and which have now become uncontrollable.

They ignored these because initially they thought they were problems of the slums and the far away continents but before they were aware, their close relatives were dying of AIDS while some of them were becoming drug addicts."

He said his tour of the traditional area exposed him to the abject poverty and neglect in spite of the fact that the area is endowed with rich natural resources.

Osagyefuo Ofori-Panin expressed regret that there were a lot of schools in the rural communities without furniture and quality teachers and cited an example where he had the chance to read notes left on a blackboard by a teacher, which "were full of mistakes".

He called for the establishment of Okyeman Forestry Brigade by all chiefs in the traditional area to help maintain the environment and protect the forest.

Osagyefuo Ofori-Panin announced the establishment of an Okyeman Council of Elders to advice the Okyeman Council and also the constitution of an Okyeman Legal Committee to help defend cases affecting the traditional Council.

Baafour Ohene Banahene, Apagyahene of Begoro, announced that an Okyeman

Congress would be organised at the Abuakwa State College in August to consider among other issues, the land tenure system, the role of chiefs in the governance of the country and launching of the Okyeman Environmental Foundation.