BECHEM CELEBRATES ADEKYEM FESTIVAL

The chiefs and people of Atanofo Traditional Area (Bechem) have celebrated their bi-annual Adekeyem festival at Bechem the Tano South District Capital.

The festival which was with pomp and gallery attracted a large number of people from all walks of life including traditional rulers from other districts and regions of the country.

In a welcome address, the Omanhene of Bechem and president of the Bechem Traditional Council Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II said this year’s celebration of the festival is aimed at mobilising funds to put up a community Library at the District Capital to cater for Bechem and its environs to boost education since education is the key to success.

Nana Fosu Gyeabour II said the though peace and unity has long existed in the traditional area, the Adekyem festival has come to strengthen it more and has re-enacted the traditional values of the people.

Nana Akoto said farmers in the Tano South District contribute a lot to the development of the nation and for that matter urged the  government to give them the necessary support to enable them expand their farms. Nana said since Agriculture is the back bone of the country, there is the need for the government to give it the necessary boost by initiating policies that would make the sector attractive for the youth of the country to invest their resources into it.

Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II said the introduction of the Presidential Special Initiative in the cultivation of Oil Palm in the District was aimed at removing poverty and urged all who has land to go into the cultivation of Oil Palm.

In his address, the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari  Zakari  Anaba  said, festivals are an expressive way to celebrate glorious heritage culture and traditions and play an important role in adding structure to our social lives and connecting us with our families and backgrounds.

Hon. Anaba said, festivals are celebrated to propagate the cultural heritage of societies and highlight various aspects of society and helps in keeping alive the older traditions and provide entertainment to the people who take part in them and in the same vain, the Adekyem festival is a festival which also seeks to pass on the customs and traditions of the chiefs and people of the Bechem Traditional Area to the younger generation.

Hon. Anaba said like all other editions of festivals a theme has been put in place to steer the celebration towards a particular course and for that matter, it is needed laudable that ‘’Adekyem festival as a tool for Unity in Development of Bechem Traditinal Area’’ was chosen as the theme for this year’s celebration because in the absence of unity, development staggers ,however in unity, development is accelerated as festivals are universally related to harmony, peace and happiness and it is his hope that, the celebration of the Adekyem will unite them in the best way possible and hoped that all would indulge in the rich cultural display and the beauty of the Adekyem festival in a bid to develop the Tano South District.

The Brong Ahafo Region Minister, Hon. Eric OPoku who stood in for His Execellency John Dramani Mahama in his presidential address said that the government of the National Democratic Congress recognizes festivals and commended the chiefs and people of Bechem Traditional Area for initiating the Adekyem festival.

He said the NDC government in its 2012 electioneering campaign promised Ghanaians that, the government would construct new school buildings to replace and eradicate schools under trees and also put up new community day’s Senior High Schools to enable more Junior High Schools graduates get access to access Senior High School education all in the bid to boost education in the country and for that matter, since the aim of this year’s celebration of the festival  is to mobilize funds to construct a community library, the government would commit ten thousand cedis (10,000) into the library project.

Hon. Eric opoku used the occasion to elaborate some of the achievements of the NDC government in the areas of education, health, agriculture, security and infrastructural development.

Hon. Opoku said, since he assumed office as the Regional Minister he has been able to settle many disputes on lands, Chieftaincy and congratulated Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II for making peace and tranquillity prevail in the Bechem Tradional Area and Tano South District as a whole and called on Nananom to collaborate with institutions charged with the education of the populace on immoral practices by our youth who are our future leaders and said the Brong Ahafo Regional Directorate of education is ready to award scholarships to all brilliant but needy pupils and advised parents to send their children to school.

The function was co-chaired by Nana Pepra Siase, the saamanhene of Asante Mampong, Nana Dr. Sarfo Kantanka of Asante Mampong, Nana Adu Gyamfi, Atipimhene of  Kenyasi II, Nana Kofi Trodo Fofie Agyemang, Bomsowura and Nana Adu Kwaku Ababio, Akwamuhene of Ntotroso.

TANO SOUTH DISTRICT OBSERVES WORLD TOILET DAY AT BECHEM

A mini durbar to celebrate World Toilet Day with the theme ‘’Access to toilet, Health and Nutrition’’ has taken place at Bechem, the Tano South District Capital.

In a welcome address to mark the day, the Tano South District Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Adom Cudjoe elaborated the importance of constructing toilet facilities in our home and said it is an obligatory for each household to have a toilet facility. He said open defecation pollutes the environment and eventually brings about diseases such as cholera and others.

He said the District Assembly would not entertain landlords who fail to include toilet facilities in their building plans and would also arrest and prosecute those who include them but fail to implement when putting up the fiscal structure.

Mr. cudjoe said though the Assembly has been able to put up many public toilets but it is not enough to meet the demands of the populace.

The Tano South District Director of Health Service, Dr. Peter Asare in a speech said, thirty-two (32) cholera cases out of which two (2) death were recorded in the Tano South District and said his outfit has embarked on a vigorous education campaign to educate the public on the causes, effects and symptoms of the disease and said the disease is brought about by human activities.

Dr. Asare said, the government through the Tano South District Assembly has been able to construct many health facilities in the district and urged all stakeholders to pay regular visit to the centres for medical check- up and advised all to register with the National Health Insurance Authority to enable them access medical care free of charge.

In his address, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said, sanitation is relevant to national development and for that matter, the Assembly has been able to construct 25 public toilet district wide to serve over 83,000 people but stressed that it is not enough to meet the demands of the people. He said the Assembly’s building Plan Law section 15 (86) mandates every landlord to provide a toilet facility in his building but it came to light that many houses were without toilet facilities when the Town and Country Planning Department embarked on the street naming and property Addressing System exercise in the District and advised landlords not to turn toilet and bathrooms into sleeping rooms.

Hon. Anaba said, World toilet Day as introduced by the United Nations and ably been implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and rural Development, will go a long way to educate the masses on the need for proper toilet facilities in our homes and also commended the Bechem Water and Sanitation Management Team for their role in ensuring that proper toilet facilities are obtained in the Township.

Hon. Anaba said, a survey on the District League Table placed the Tano South District first due to the diligent role the Assembly played on certain factors which needed to be addressed including health, sanitation, education and said his doors are opened to all and sundry who propose to construct toilet facilities in their houses.

The Chairman for the occasion, Nana Opoku Agyemang, who stood in for the Omanhene of Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyeabour II, said the Bechem Traditional Council will cooperate with the Tano South District Assembly to ensure that all new buildings under construction in the Traditional Area are provided with toilet facilities.

FREE BREAST AND POSTRATE CANCER SCREENING HELD AT BECHEM

As part of the activities marking the celebration of the Adekyem festival of the chiefs and people of Bechem Traditional Council, a free Breast and Postrate Cancer screening has been held at Bechem, the Traditional capital.

The free screening exercise which was carried out by the Breast Care International and Soyuz Medical Laboratories was a collaboration between the Tano District Assembly and Bechem Traditional Council.

In a public education drive before the exercise, Dr. Mrs Beatrice  Wiafe Addae of Breast Care International and Peace and Love Hospital said, breast cancer is a global issue and in every sixty seconds, a woman dies out of the disease and called on women to  discard the notion that breast cancer is a spiritual disease and urged the them to visit the health facilities regularly for breast screening.

Dr. Mrs Wiafe Addae said when the disease is detected at an early stage it can be taken care of and cured and advised women not to feel shy to be screened.

A lab technician of the Soyus medical laboratory in a public education on Postrate Cancer said the prevalence rate of the disease has risen from 1 to 3 percent and advised men especially the adults to go to hospital regularly for check- up.

TANO SOUTH DISTRICT FIRE STATION INAUGURATED

An official inauguration of the Tano South District Command of the Ghana National Fire Service has taking place at Bechem, the district capital.

Picture left shows the chief fire officer inspecting a parade and picture right showing officers of the fire service seated at the function.

In his inaugural address, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said he was with joy to be part of the inaugural ceremony. He said knowing the vital role Fire Service play towards the protection of lives and property, he took it upon himself with the assistance of Nananom to establish a District Fire Station immediately after assuming office as District Chief Executive in 2009 and one important thing that was left with was the inauguration of the Fire Station and was therefore more than happy to be part of the inaugural ceremony.

                                       

Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba the Tano South District Chief Executive giving his inaugural speech

Hon. Anaba said, the District Assembly will collaborate with the Ghana National Fire Service to handle all cases of fire and emergencies within the District and beyond. He said his office is additionally liaising with the District Fire Command and Nananom to secure a land to construct a permanent fire station for the district and hinted that negotiations have been started with Nananom for the release of land for the Rural Fire Training School and hoped the National Headquarters of the service would approve of  it.

Hon. Anaba urged the personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service to intensify public education on the need for proper fire safety measures at homes and institutions especially fuel and gas filling stations to prevent fire outbreaks in the district and ensure that individuals and institutions who fail to comply with safety regulations are not spared, since it is about time the laws of the land are enforced by law enforcement agencies to save the nation of needless lost of lives and property and commended the District Fire Command for their diligent work ever since the establishments of the station.

In a speech, the Chief Fire Officer, Dr. Albert Brown Gaise said he was highly impressed to be part of the inaugural ceremony. He said, in as much as sectors contribute to development, risk and hazards become higher and for that matter, there is the need for people to adopt strategies to curb the risk and hazards confronting them.

                                   

The Chief Fire Officer, Dr. Albert Brown Gaise addressing the gathering

Dr. Gaise who used the occasion to educate the masses on fire said, fire is a good servant but sometimes become an enemy to people and hinted his administration would do all it can to resource the Ghana National Fire Service to enable them to fight fire during outbreaks and also enlighten the populace on fire prevention in all parts of the country.

Dr. Gaise called on Assemblies to enforce by-laws on fire and bushfires so that the people will comply with safety fire methods and called on various institutions to collaborate with the Fire Service to fight fire in the case of any outbreak and also appealed to heads of various Second Cycle Institutions to establish fire cadets in their schools.

The Nifahene of the Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Awuah Boadi in his remarks expressed his profound gratitude to the Tano South District Assembly and the Ghana National Fire Service for making it possible for the inaugural ceremony to take place.

                                 

Nana Awuah Boadi ,the Nifahene of the Bechem Traditional Area giving his remarks

Nana Awuah Boadi on behalf of the Omanhene and the Bechem Traditional Council promised that the council would release a parcel of land for the construction of a permanent offices and a Rural Fire Training school for the Tano South District.

TANO SOUTH DISTRICT ASSEMBLY HOLDS FIRST ORDINARY MEETING

The first ordinary session of the sixth Assembly of the Tano South District Assembly has been held at Bechem.

The first ordinary meeting saw in attendance Assembly Members both old and new, Heads of various Government departments in the district, Nananom and a cross section of the general public.

Delivering his opening remark, the Presiding Member of the Assembly, Hon. Anthony Opoku warmly welcomed all present especially the new Assembly Members.

Hon. Opoku said he enjoyed working with the old Assembly Members during the past four years and said he expected that, the new Assembly Members would accord him the necessary attention and cooperation in order for them to deliver to their people what they expected from them.

Hon. Opoku said, General Assembly Meeting is an important component of the decentralization process which has practical application and relevance to governance and for that matter the development of the district.

He said whereas staff of the Central Administration at the Local Government level performs executive functions, honourable members must also ensure that, these executive functions are carried out with the high sense of urgency and within the ambit of prescribed regulations.

Hon. Opoku said Assembly Members by their unique position are expected to play a significant role in the local governance system and stressed that the sub-committees of the Assemblies have unique role to play and used the platform to appeal to all heads of department, Hon. DCE, and Hon. Assembly Members to develop a very good working relationship with each other devoid of acrimonious partisanship and deep seated mistrust, but based on consensus building which would lead to the collective achievement of results thereby improving the lives of their people.

Hon. Opoku congratulated the Member of Parliament of the constituency for the numerous projects she is undertaking in the district and equally welcomed her to the august house and hoped she would always make time to be present with them in their subsequent District Assembly Meetings and expressed his profound gratitude to the Hon. District Chief Executive, Nananom, District Co-ordinating Director and her deputies and heads of department for their continuous support to Hon. Members in the discharge of their duties and called on each and everyone to feel free and contribute constructively on issues to be discussed at the meeting.

In his sessional address at the meeting, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said he was highly privileged to address yet another session of the Assembly and used the occasion to welcome all to the meeting and congratulated Hon. Assembly Members for their successful election and also congratulated Hon. Presiding Member for his re-election.

Hon. Anaba expressed his profound appreciation and congratulated the Omanhene of Bechem Traditional Area, Nananom, Hon. Presiding Member, Hon. Member of Parliament, Hon. Assembly Members, Departmental Heads and all stakeholders for their continuous support and keen participation in activities of the Assembly which has brought the Assembly to this height.

Hon. Anaba said the Assembly has been guided with the sense of unity of purpose in it’s deliberations and appealed to Hon. Members to continue to work with collaborative spirit since it is crucial for the advancement of the district and said he was also delighted to state that the District is either first or among the first Districts that are able to organize the first ordinary meeting of the first session at this time.

Hon. Anaba said the Assembly in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders designed and implemented some strategies which resulted in some improvement in revenue mobilization.

Hon. Anaba said the District has remained relatively calm and peaceful largely due to the hard work and diligence of the District Security Committees but mentioned that, however there have been isolated cases of stealing, chieftaincy and boundry disputes in the District.

The District Chief Executive announced that the government has awarded contract for the construction of Bechem Town Roads and work has started. He said the Governments’ community Senior High School which is being constructed by Mssrs SGL Investment Ltd at Derma is progressing steadily and prayed the Ghana Education Service would speed up processes for the school to start and also informed the house that the MP for the Constituency, Hon. Dr. Hannah Louisa Bissiw has procured 5000 cock crow literature books to be distributed soon to all Junoir High Scchools District wide and ten thousand exercise books to selected Schools in the Disstrict whiles the District Assembly and the Regional Directorate of Education has also provided fifty boxes of chalk and four-fifty free School uniforms to be distributed respectively.

Hon. Anaba commended Nananom, Honourable Assembly members and all for their regular participation in all the National Sanitation exercises conducted in the District since its inception and called on the Assembly members to sensitise their people on the need to always participate in the clean-up exercise whenever they are called upon. He said the Assembly has observed with great concern, the rate at which people indiscriminately put up structures without resort to any laid down plan for the District and humbly appealed to Nananom, Assembly members and all stakeholders to educate and caution people to desist from building in areas where they are not supposed to build and informed the House that the Assembly has undertaken a number of on-going infrastructural projects.

The Omanhene of Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II, who was a special guest, in a speech, informed the House that since there was the need for development projects to be executed in Bechem the District Capital,he has given a parcel of land to the Assembly for its development project such as the light Industrial Area(Magazine) but what he has observed is that the land has been encroached by unauthorised people and called on the Assembly to take steps to clear these  people from the place. Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II called on the Assembly members to give their support and help to the revenue officers of the Assembly in the discharge of their duties so that they can get more revenue for the Assembly and finally called on all to give their maximum support and help in the celebration of the impending Adekyem Festival of the Chiefs and the people of Bechem Traditional Area