The
Tano South District version of the celebration of the 60th
anniversary of Ghana’s Independence was celebrated in a grand style with a
smart turnout of School Children, Artisans and Market Women.
The
year’s anniversary saw an increase in the number of participating Schools and
School Children who were smartly dressed to meet the occasion.
The
District Coordinating Director for the Tano South Mrs Agartha Ahia who acted as
the District Chief Executive in the company of the member of Parliament for the
Tano South Constituency Hon. Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, the District Director of
Education, Rev. Robert Opoku and the District Police Commander, DSP Abraham
Bansah inspected the parade formed by the School Children and other groups.
Dignitaries inspecting
the parade of school children
Reading
the anniversary address, the acting District Chief Executive Mrs Agartha Ahia
on behalf of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, the President of the
Republic of Ghana and Tano South District Assembly extended to the people their
best wishes and warm felicitations on the occasion and expressed her
appreciation and gratitude to Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II Omanhene of Bechem
for finding time to grace the occasion with his presence.
Mrs
Ahia said Ghana is one of the few countries in the Sub – Region and Africa in
general who since independence in spite of the transient political upheavals
have not been thrown into abyss of full scale civil war. She said the relative
peace and stability of the country coupled with its time tested democratic
credentials has made the country a beacon of hope on the international stage
and said the recent elections in which there was a peaceful transfer of power
further deepened our rich democratic culture and therefore saluted our first
President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and all the gallant men and women whose
untiring efforts made it possible for us to celebrate this day.
Mrs Agartha Ahia
reading the anniversary address
Mrs
Ahia said, Ghana has indeed come a long way and should by now be rubbing
shoulders with its peers who gained independence within the same period as
Ghana and it is against this background that as we celebrate what is good and
beautiful about Ghana, we also undertake an introspection into what should have
been if only we had been more patriotic and committed to the country like our
renowned fore – bearers. She said the theme for this year’s celebration ‘Ghana
60 years on: mobilizing for Ghana’s future’ is timely and appropriate since
there is no better way of mobilizing for Ghana’s future without investing
heavily in our youth and young and it is in this vein that government’s policy
of free SHS and the one factory one District policies are all geared towards
utilizing the energies and intellect of the youth to propel the growth of the
country.
Mrs
Ahia said, the vision of the government is to build a country where the rule of
law works with equal opportunity for all as Ghana cannot develop without
instituting appropriate policy development and enforcement of law as well as
regulations, as indiscipline on the part of most of us have had negative
consequences on the country and for that matter our communities and called on
Ghanaians to give the necessary cooperation support to the government.
She
said we have come far as a nation and have made significant progress in all
facets of our national endeavour but we need to do more and called on all that
it is high time we discarded all the negative tendencies which have accounted
for the socio – economic stagnation of the country and pool all our human and
material resource together and work assiduously to lift our country from
poverty, ignorance, diseases, deprivation and lawlessness and thanked Nananom
and all present for making the occasion a success.
Speaking
at the function, the Member of Parliament for the Tano South Constituency Hon
Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere first and foremost thanked God and the people of the
Constituency for bringing him this far by voting for him to become their Member
Parliament. He said Ghanaians should be proud of hitting the 60th
year’s mark of Independence and how far we have got to as a nation though a lot
needs to be done.
Hon Benjamin Yeboah
Sekyere speaking at the function
Hon
Sekyere said whilst we are celebrating the day it is important to ask ourselves
what we will be remembered for the years to come and what contributions are we
making to be remembered like Dr Kwame Nkrumah, J.B Dankwa, Ako Adjei, Paa Grant
and others we are celebrating today.
Touching
on the Pupils and Students, Hon Sekyere reminded them that, education is the
key and to make greater impact in our societies as we look forward to embracing
the future that lies ahead of us, education should be pursued with vigour since
through difficulties man went to the stars and there is nothing under the sun
that cannot be achieved if you set your eyes upon it.
Hon.
Sekyere elaborated a number of policies and programmes the government intends
to embark upon and said a greater number of projects would be undertaken when a
new DCE is appointed for the District and appealed to the people to occupy
their minds with the development of Tano South District with the election over.
He said he has come for the people of Tano South but not a particular political
party and concluded by saying that if we move on as a united body and remain
committed to the course of Tano South and Ghana as a whole, a time will come
when we can hit our chest and proudly say that we have been part of the development
of Tano South District and Ghana.
A
salute was taking by the dignitaries in turns during the march pass of school
children, students, market women and artisans and prizes were awarded to the
best three schools in the primary, JHS and SHS categories and certificates of
participation were also given to all the schools which participated in the
anniversary parade.
Dignitaries taking the
turns during the march past
In
a closing remark, Nana Boadi Amponim who spoke on behalf of the Omanhene Nana
Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II congratulated all the participating groups for their
smart turn out and brisk marching and called on all and sundry to contribute
meaningfully to the development of the country since Ghana has gone far with 60th
years of independence but a lot needs to be done. Nana called on all to support
the government to be able to implement its policies and programmes so as to
move Ghana forward.
Nana Boadi Amponim
speaking on behalf of the Omanhene
