Use festivals for development – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday advised communities throughout the country to use festivals to galvanize support towards the development of the country.

He said:"Festivals should be used for stock taking and review of your development plans."

President Mahama, who was speaking at the third annual Akwambo Kese festival at Enyan-Denkyira in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam district of the Central Region, said government would continue to play its role by providing what is necessary for development.

The festival, which is celebrated annually by the chiefs and people of the five traditional authorities in the District, brought together five paramountcies, who have agreed that the festival rotates in all the traditional areas on annual basis.

It was heralded by heavy traditional drumming and dancing, bringing out the patrons with traditional apparel to demonstrate the traditional dances of their ancestors.

They also carried the chiefs and Queens in their pallanquins to mark the importance that the Traditional authority attached to the Akwambo kese festival, established three years ago.

President Mahama said as communities, cooperation and peaceful co-existence was essential for their development and commended them for creating a common platform that could enable them to share ideas and experiences on their development agenda.

He said government was constructing a Nursing Training College in Ajumako Bisease, a District hospital at Ajumako, and a number of roads that would open up the place to commercial activities.

The President said as a social democratic government, his administration would increase the implementation of social interventions to make every citizen comfortable.

This, he added, would be through support programmes that would empower every individual to undertake income generating activities and support families that were poverty-stricken, under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme.

On education, President Mahama said a total of 49 educational projects were under construction in the District and gave the assurance that those projects would be completed to make education accessible to all the communities in the coming days.

President Mahama said 39 communities were also provided with boreholes to protect them from water-borne diseases.

Osabarima Ostibu VI, Paramount Chief of Enyan-Denkyira, who is hosting the festival for this year, commended President Mahama for the numerous development projects that were on-going in the district, particularly the construction of a Nursing Training school at Ajumako-Bisease.

He appealed to the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture to recognize the Akwambo Kese as one of the major festivals in Ghana.

Osabarima Ostibu VI also appealed to the Ministry of Toursim to assist the district to harness tourists sites such as; the hanging rock at Ajumako Nyinasu, the Natural Bell at Breman Essaim, Natural lake at Enyan Akotogua and the Museum at Ampia-Ajumako, all in the district, to make them economically viable.

"We also wish to appeal to the government and the Ministry of Education to consider upgrading the Ajumako Campus of the University College of Education into a fully-fledged University of Languages," he added.