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.