Unity essential to development of Ga State- Nii Sogblah

Accra, Sept 4, GNA - Nii Amarh Sogblah IV, Chief of Hastso, in Accra, at the end of this year's celebration of the traditional Homowo festival, has stressed unity and co-operation among Ga chiefs to accelerate the development of communities within the Ga state. He explained that, the lack of unity and the many chieftaincy troubles had hampered the accelerated development of the Ga State, and called on traditional rulers in the Ga communities to forge ahead in unity to move the state forward.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), at his palace, at the end of the celebration, on Saturday, Nii Sogblah said the traditional leaders in the Haatso community would ensure that they maintained brotherly links with other Ga communities, and would not severe its ties with Osu, with which it hitherto, jointly celebrated the festival.

They would keep their ties and co-operate to provide projects to raise the living standards of the people of the two communities. Haasto is a peri-urban community, near Legon, a seat of education in Ghana, but is yet to have a public second cycle school. Nii Sogblah used the occasion to appeal for a second cycle institution, and said the traditional authority was putting up a school complex for the teaching and learning of technical subjects., The centre would also offer training in Information, Communication Technology.

Niii Sogblah appealed to the people to maintain sanitation to preserve the health of the people. Nii Tetteh Kwao, the head of the council of kingmakers (Dzasetse), appealed to kingmakers to install rightful heirs to the stools in the Ga state, to prevent chieftaincy disputes, which has negatively affected some communities. He said chieftaincy disputes remained a bane on development. As he extended the best wishes of the Homowo season, in the traditional Nnoor Wala, a traditional incantation, Nii Kwao called for disputing factions in the communities of the Ga State to use the occasion to put an end to squabbles, differences and reconcile for progress. The climax of the almost three-week celebration ended with the sprinkling of the traditional food, kpokpoi, a steamed wet corn dough, which is eaten with palm nut soup, at the cemetery. The chief then led a procession of the people through the principal clan houses and the streets in the area, sprinkling kpokpoi to the ancestral spirits, as he invoked their blessings for the communities. Clad mostly in yellow, the procession sang and danced heartily, amid the firing of musketry, as the chief sprinkled the traditional food. Aawon Opobi, a traditional priestess, in an admonition, asked chiefs and traditional leaders to be fair in sharing the benefits of the royal families, as a means of preventing dissatisfaction among clan members and the people to respect traditional values. 04 Sept 10