CHIEF OF STAFF CALLS FOR RIGHT SUCCESSION PLANS (Page 47)

Story: Samuel Duodu, Kintampo

THE Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, has urged kingmakers to put in place the right succession plans to help stamp out the many chieftaincy disputes that have bedevilled the once revered traditional institution in recent times.
He said a succession plan would not only prevent the violent conflicts often associated with the enstoolment and enskinment of traditional rulers, but also ensure that the right people ascended the throne.
Mr Mpiani made the call when he represented President J. A. Kufuor as the special guest of honour at a colourful durbar to climax this year’s Kurubi festival of the chiefs and people of the various Wangara communities across the country held at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region on the theme: “Celebrating Ghana’s Golden Cultural Heritage” at the weekend.
The annual festival is a celebration of the Wangaras, in honour of their ancestors who were originally indigenes of Bambars, Madingo, and Djula in the ancient kingdoms of Mali and Songhai, who migrated southwards to the Gold Coast when they were pursued by the notorious slave raiders, Samore and Babatu.
The National Association of Wangara communities known as “Benkadi”, which literally means “Togetherness Bring Happiness”, has been responsible for the annual organisation of the Kurubi festival at Kintampo, which is regarded as the spiritual home of the Wangaras, under the leadership of Nana Fanyinamah III, President of the Council of Wangara chiefs.
Mr Mpiani stated that the President asked him to convey to the kingmakers and traditional councils to do something to stop the violent clashes that were often associated with the installation of chiefs, in order to restore the respect once accorded the chieftaincy institution in the country, but which was fast eroding through the numerous disputes.
He called on the various factions involved in the numerous chieftaincy disputes across the country to use dialogue to resolve their differences for peace to prevail.
Mr Mpiani also called on the people to use the festival as the rallying point to promote tourism in Kintampo which abounds in may tourist sites, such as the Kintampo and the Fuller Waterfalls, as well as being regarded as the centre of Ghana.
He advised the people of the area, especially the youth, not to indulge in sexual promiscuity to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS, but rather channel their energies into productive ventures.
Mr Mpiani stressed the importance of education to the development of society and urged people to take advantage of the Capitation Grant and School Feeding Programme and send their children to school.
The Chief of Staff assured the people of Kintampo that the government would ensure the completion of the Kintampo township roads and the drainage system, which were ongoing, while plans were far advanced to change the single face of electricity supply to that of a three face to befit the municipality status.

NIFAHENE IN GRIPS OF THE LAW

Proofread by KGE
Dormaa New (mnf)

From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

THE Nifahene of New Dormaa, a community in the Sunyani municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region, is in the grips of the law for defiling a 14-year-old girl, who is a friend to her daughter.
The inordinate desire of Nana Kusi, 49 and a plumber, to have an affair with a girl of her younger daughter’s age had also resulted in the 10-week-old pregnancy of the girl, according to a medical report.
According to ASP Kwaku Amoako, who is also in charge of the Brong Ahafo Regional Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) , the complainant in the case, one Frank, an uncle of the victim, reported to the police that the suspect, sometime in August, this year, forcibly had sex with the victim when she called at the suspect’s house to visit her friend, the daughter of the suspect.
He said both the victim and the suspect lived in the same vicinity at New Dormaa in the Sunyani municipality.
The suspect lured the girl into his room and had sex with her after which he warned her not to disclose it to anybody.
The victim, based on the threat of death if she disclosed it to anybody, kept mute until she fell sick seriously and was rushed to the hospital.
ASP Amoako said it was at the hospital that the victim’s parents were told about the pregnancy of the girl and when she was questioned, she mentioned the suspect as the one responsible for the pregnancy and added that the suspect forcibly had sex with her sometime in August.
He said after the girl had finished narrating her ordeal at the hands of the suspect to her mother and her uncle at the hospital, a report was made to the police.