The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reassured the Paramount Chief of the Bawku Traditional Area, Naba Asigri Abuagrago Azoka II, he does not have an interest in any chieftaincy issue across the country, especially in the Bawku area.
According to President Akufo-Addo, his government remains committed to ensuring peace and stability in the country, and not to engage in matters related to chieftaincy.
In the run up to the 2016 general elections, President Akufo-Addo, then the presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party, appealed to Naba Abugragu Azoka II, and the people of Bawku, to vote massively for him and the NPP, assuring that if voted for, he will help find a permanent solution to the chieftaincy disputes in Bawku.
“When I said that I have no interest in chieftaincy matters, I meant it. It wasn’t an idle statement. I am not chief, I am not a royal of Bawku, I don’t have any interest in meddling in Bawku chieftaincy matters, and that is what I meant by saying that my government has not come here to deal in chieftaincy matters”, President Akufo Addo said.
The President made this known on Thursday, 2nd November, 2017, when Naba Asigri Abuagrago Azoka II, and some eminent Chiefs from the Bawku Traditional Area paid a reciprocal courtesy call on him at the Presidency.
President Nana Akufo-Addo commended the Bawku Naba and the other Chiefs for the role they have played in ensuring that peace prevails in Bawku, an action, he said, has brought a warm glow of joy and gratitude to his heart.
He told the Chiefs that the decision to create a new district out of the Tempane constituency was on-going, and “anytime from now, the Minister for Local Government would announce the creation of the Tempane district.”
With Bawku being, predominantly, a farming community, President Akufo-Addo stated that Bawku, would immensely benefit from his government’s “Planting for Food and Jobs Programme”, which is tailored to help farmers by providing them with improved seedlings, fertilizers at subsidized prices, and extension officers, amongst others.
He, however, urged the Traditional Rulers to assist the security agencies in ensuring that the smuggling of fertilizer from Ghana to other countries becomes an unattractive venture.
“We are supplying fertilizers at subsidized prices. But you know that when something good is happening, there are always a few mischievous people, criminal minds, who want to use the good things just for their own selfish interest. The people who are doing that are enriching themselves at our expense, your expense and my expense,” he said.
The President continued, “So I am asking you, the traditional rulers, in the area to be part of the law enforcement agencies in the area, and make sure that smuggling doesn’t take place of these important items”.
On another of government’s flagship projects, the free Senior High School Policy, President Akufo-Addo explained that the policy would ensure that all of Ghana’s children would have the opportunity to go to school.
“We have to speak the truth to each other as Ghanaians. In today’s world, Junior High School education is not enough we have to make sure that everybody gets at least to Secondary School, and that is why I am determined that the policy of free Senior High School would continue and continue so that all our children would have the opportunity to go to school. It has not been done for politics, and it has not been done for votes, it’s been done for the development of our country”, President Akufo-Addo said.
