ADEKYEM FESTIVAL LAUNCHED

The Adekyem Festival of the chiefs and the people of Bechem Traditional Area have been launched at Bechem, the Tano South District Capital.

The Festival which has for its theme ‘’Unity and Development’’ would be celebrated in November, 2015 with a number of activities to be climaxed by a ground durbar.

At the launching ceremony which saw a number of dignitaries including the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon Bukari Zakari Anaba, Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, the Adekyem planning committee secretary, in a welcome address said the festival which was instituted four (4) years ago by Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II, Omanhene of the Bechem Traditional Area was aimed to raise money to establish an educational endowment fund to help brilliant but needy children of the area to go through their secondary education.

Mr. Adu Gyamfi said since the inception of the festival and the establishment of the fund, an amount of GH¢ 36,450 has been spent to sponsor twenty-seven (27) children through their three (3) year senior secondary school education and said, these twenty-seven (27) children cut across the Traditional Area and plans are afoot to even help some of these children through their university education aside those who would be catered for in the Senior High Schools in the subsequent years.

In an address, the Omanhene of the Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II used the occasion to welcome all present and thanked all and sundry who had travelled far and wide to attend the launching ceremony and entreated them to prepare adequately towards the celebration of the main festival in November, 2015.

Nana elaborated the importance of the festival and its achievement and said the people of the Traditional Area has a history to tell and thus must not be kept in the dark but instead portrayed.

Nana advised the people to go into palm oil plantation which was introduced into the district as part of the Presidential Special Initiative Programme, and said by this, it will go a long way to feed the oil palm extracting factory established by the Bechem Traditional Council and which is sited at Bechem and also give employment to our youth.

Launching the festival, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said the institution of the Adekyem festival and its accompanying education fund has brought relief to some parents of the Traditional Area. He said the launching of the festival as we have gathered today has made the people got to know some of the achievements of the festival and called on all and sundry to give their maximum support to the good course of the celebration and its intended purposes.

Hon. Anaba said, the Tano South District Assembly in its wisdom would also do all it can to make the festival a great one and said the government of the NDC attaches great importance to the role of Traditional Authorities in our Democratic dispensation and as such festivals of our Traditional Areas must be given the necessary boost to uplift tradition.

Hon. Anaba assured Nananoom that the Bechem town roads would be tarred as soon as possible and also thanked the Hon. Member of Parliament of the Tano South Constituency, Hon. Hannah Louisa Bisiw for using her good offices to lobby for the siting of the government’s Agric Broiler Project in the Brong Ahafo Region specifically in the Tano North District which is a sister District and said, this project would go a long way to give employment to the people of the two sister Districts.

Mr. Frank Owusu Yeboah who chaired the launching ceremony called on all to support the good course of Nananom by the institution of the festival and the establishment of the educational fund and entreated all to embrace the idea and contribute meaningfully both in cash and kind to support the next Adekem Festival which has duly been launched.

TANO SOUTH DISTRICT OBSERVES ‘’MY FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL’’

The Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba, District Co-ordinating Dierctor, Mrs Agartha Ahia, Officials of the Tano South District Assembly, the Deputy District Director of Education and Officials of the Tano South District Directorate of Education have visited Primary schools in the Tano South District to interact with new entrants of KGI and Primary one to mark ‘’my first day at school’’.

The team which was divided into groups to cover the various educational zones saw the DCE, DCD and DDE leading their various groups with each group presenting educational materials, soft drinks and goodies to the new entrants.

The Tano South District Chief Executive and his group which visited Bechem Zone saw the DCE addressing pupils and teachers of the schools he visited .The District Chief Executive in his addresses said government is committed to improve the educational system of the country and for that matter, government through the Tano South District Assembly has been able to construct a number of school buildings to boost infrastructural development of our schools and to eradicate schools under trees and advised parents to send their children to school to enable them have brighter future.

Hon. Anaba stressed that, the Tano South District Assembly is putting measures in place to begin the distribution of chalks and other teaching and learning materials to all public schools in the District and called on Head teachers to call for P.T.A meetings regularly to address some of the problems facing their various schools.

On examination malpractice which is becoming the order of the day in our schools, the District Chief Executive called on the pupils to discard the notion that their teachers could help them in their final examinations and rather learn hard so that at the end they could work for themselves without any help from outside.

Hon. Anaba said, the introduction of the school feeding programme has gone a long way to reduce the financial burden on parents and has increased enrolment in our schools and called on those who kick against government policies and programmes to desist from it, since it would not do us any good and hinted that the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection which is now in charge of the school feeding programme is putting measures in place to extend the programme to all public schools in the rural areas.

Speaking on behalf of the Tano South District Education Directorate, Mr. Duah Oppong Richard a member of the DCE’s group urged teachers to attend school regularly and punctually to teach the pupils so as to make them acquire reading and writing skills and tasked teachers who handle KGI to primary three (3) to comply with the two thousand and seven (2007) educational policy reforms.

Similar messages were carried to all the schools in the remaining zones by their group leaders.

TANO SOUTH DISTRICT OBSERVES 10TH EDITION OF NATIONAL SANITATION DAY WITH MASSIVE CLEAN UP EXERCISE

A massive clean- up exercise was observed throughout the Tano South District to mark the 10^th edition of the national sanitation day.

Led by their chiefs and elders and ably supported by the District Chief Executive and his Co-ordinating Director, Mrs. Agartha Ahia and Officials of the Tano South District Assembly, the people of Bechem, Techimantia, Derma and its environs undertook a massive clean- up exercise to tidy up their environment.

Notably among the dignitaries who took part in the Bechem exercise was the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon.Edwi Nii Lante Vanderpuye.

In an address after the exercise at Bechem, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba thanked all for coming out in their numbers for the exercise and said he was happy the Minister has also joined the people of Bechem to do the exercise since this he said was a shining example of good leadership.

The District Chief Executive advised the people not to dump refuse indiscriminately and later turn to clean them on sanitation days and urged all and sundry to be regular participants in all sanitation day exercises. He used the occasion to welcome the Hon. Minister and also finding time to be part of the Tano South District’s version of the National Sanitation Day clean up exercise.

Speaking at the close of the clean- up exercise, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye said the National Sanitation Day has been set aside by government on every first Saturday of each month for citizens to undertake clean up exercises to tidy their environments and must be treated as such. He said a clean environment breeds healthy people and healthy people become productive in the socio-economic life a nation and urged all present not to make the exercise a nine day wonder.

The Omanhene of the Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyaebour Akoto ll in his remark said the National Sanitation Day declared by the government will go a long way to bring sanity into our environment and urged official of the Assembly to enforce a law to make the exercise binding.

DISTRICT LEVEL ELECTIONS HELD IN THE TANO SOUTH DISTRICT

Tano South District like all other Districts in the Country experienced the District Level Elections.

A well- organized but low patronage district level elections to elect Assembly Members and Unit Committee Members throughout the constituency was held in the district during the Election Day.

Election materials and Election Staff were all at post by seven o’clock in the morning (7:00 am) for the voting to start at eight o’clock  (8:00 am) with one hundred and seven (107) aspiring candidates contesting for the thirty-nine Electoral Areas in the Tano South Constituency.

Though, there was no rush at the polling stations, eligible voters went through the voting procedure and voted as scheduled without meeting any hindrances as there was no incidents at all the polling stations.

Security Officers positioned at all the polling stations had little to do as voting was peaceful and orderly. Counting of the ballot began immediately after the close of the voting at five o’clock (5:00 pm) and that was also seen to be peaceful and orderly as all stakeholders in the exercise signed the necessary documents to approve the voting and counting.

The District Level Elections saw the District Chief Executive of the Tano South District, the District Co-ordinating Director and the District Security Committee going round to visit the polling stations.