Professor John Evans Atta Mills’s administration has pledged to build a model senior high school (SHS) at Nsawkaw, the capital of the Tain District in the Brong Ahafo Region, this year.
The school will be inaugurated by President Mills as part of the 50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee) celebration of the creation of the region, which will be climaxed in November, this year.
The General Secretary of ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, made the pledge at a durbar by the chiefs and people of the Tain District to honour President J.E.A. Mills as part of activities on his just-ended three-day tour of the Brong Ahafo Region.
Mr Nketiah made the pledge in response to an appeal made by the Omanhene of the Nsawkaw Traditional Area, Nana Kutu Ayim Baffour II, for a SHS.
According to the chief, the establishment of the SHS would provide the opportunity for the youth in the area, including many junior high school (JHS) students, to pursue higher education
Mr Nketiah called on the police to launch a full-scale investigation into the arson attack on the Electoral Commission (EC) office at Nsawkaw in order to arrest the perpetrators to face the full rigours of the law.
The EC office at Nsawkaw, together with its electoral materials and other things, was razed to the ground by fire believed to have been caused by some people who were yet to be identified.
This was in the run-up to the second round of the 2008 presidential polls and as of now, nobody had been arrested and prosecuted for that arson attack.
Mr Nketiah stated that the police, since that arson attack, had not launched any investigations into the matter, let alone arrest the culprits to face the law.
He, therefore, called on the police to begin investigation and bring to book the perpetrators for it to serve as a deterrent to others who might think that they could commit any crime against the state and go scot-free.
The NDC General Secretary said no one was above the laws of the country and the nation could not thrive on the culture of impunity, which had the potential to destroy this country.
The large crowd that had defied a heavy downpour to listen to the President and his entourage, cheered on Mr Nketiah, who is also a native of the district.
He indicated that the NDC would insist on growing local business, saying, for example, that local contractors must be awarded sub-contracts for any major project that would be executed by expatriates.
According to him, the Bui Dam power project, which coincidentally is in the Tain District, had no job for local contractors and accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of not sub-letting some of the projects to local contractors but rather preferred to let foreign contractors execute the entire project.
Mr Nketiah noted that the Bui Dam was in Tain yet the people of the district did not know what was happening on the ground and called on the Bui Power Authority (BPA) to constantly engage the people in order to erase any mistrust and tension that often arose between them and the communities affected by the project to ensure the smooth execution of the project.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, expressed concern about the poor quality of stones being used by the firm constructing the Bui Dam.
He, therefore, appealed to the BPA Board to investigate it as a matter of urgency to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the matter.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, on behalf of the chiefs and people of the Brong Ahafo Region, thanked the President for his visit and also invited him to the climax of the 50th anniversary celebrations in November, this year.
He also thanked the chiefs and people for voting for President Mills when Tain became the decider for the 2008 presidential run-off.
Nana Baffour, who spoke on behalf of the four traditional areas in the district, namely Nsawkaw, Seikwa, Banda Ahenkro and Badu, appealed to the President and his government to tar all the major roads linking the four major towns to the district capital and the feeder roads that lead to the food production centres to enable farmers send their farm produce to the marketing centres.
He also called for the extension of electricity and potable water to all communities in the district, as well as barracks for police personnel in the district capital.
President Mills was later enstooled as Nana Nkosuohene V, that is a development chief by the chiefs and people of the Tain District.
Among those who accompanied the President were Alhaji Collins Dauda, Messrs Albert Abongo and Joe Gidisu, Ministers of Lands and Natural Resources, Works and Housing and Roads, as well as Mr J.H. Owusu Acheampong, Madam Cecilia Johnson, both members of the Council of State and Mr I.K. Adjei- Mensah, Board Chairman of the BPA.
The Tain District, which was creted out up of the then Wenchi District, now a municipality, assumed such importance in the political history of Ghana, both locally and internationally, espectially when it became the decider for the 2008 presidential elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment