<<Print>>

Prominent chiefs in the Volta Region have taken President John Dramani Mahama to the cleaners, blasting him over what they described as his �unfulfilled promises� and �unfair treatment� to the people of the Region. At separate traditional durbars and functions held over the weekend in different parts of the Region, namely: Hohoe, Kpando, Kpalime Traditional and Kpeve, the chiefs expressed disgust at the way and manner the Mahama administration was treating the entire Region with disdain regarding the promises it made to them. The Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, Togbiga Gabusu V, was one of the chiefs who lamented over the �unfair treatment� and insensitivity of the Mahama Government towards the people of Hohoe in the Volta Region. The Chief made this remark in reference to the �government�s inaction� more than a year after the Hohoe clashes that left some people dead. �I don�t know why we are being treated like this by the [Mahama] government,� he said sadly. His comments come on the back of clashes which erupted a year ago after the body of an Imam was exhumed on the alleged orders of Togbiga Gabusu V, leading to the death of two persons. The Paramount Chief�s car was set ablaze and his palace vandalized in the process by the Muslim youth in Hohoe in the Volta Region. Speaking at the Gbi festival held over the weekend, Togbiga Gabusu V said, �This has been the saddest celebration of my life. How can I be sleeping on the streets and then I come here and say I am celebrating or enjoying with my people?� According to him, although the festival was a time for celebrations, he was unhappy about the way the people of Gbi had been neglected by the Mahama Administration, following promises that were made to them by the President. �The first gentleman of the state was here, telling us they would take care of it. But up to today, nothing has been done about it by the government,� he lamented. He the citizens of the area to be law-abiding and resist and acts of violence that had the potential of thrown in the area and for that matter, the country into chaos. The chiefs of the Kpalime Traditioal Area, in the South-Dayi District of the Volta Region were among other scores of chiefs who, on Saturday, expressed frustration at the rather slow pace of development in the area. Togbe Adza Wuiah Kwesi the Second, Acting Paramount Chief of the area, addressing the 2013 �Kpalikpakpa Za� (Festival), grand durbar at Tsatee-Kpalime, said governments over the past 16 years had failed to redeem their promises. He said the road arteries, including the major link road between parts of the traditional area and Kpeve, the district capital, had remained bad for many years. The chief said even the road through the traditional area to Tongor-Dzemeni, a viral marketing centre from where the district derives a lot of revenue, had been in bad shape. Togbe Kwesi said a water system provided for the area in 2012, was also non-functional. He recalled that in May, this year, a contracting firm, supposedly engaged to work on parts of the roads, met the chiefs and elders and requested for traditional rites to begin work, but in no time left site. Togbe Kwesi said checks indicated that the roads were part of those under the Eastern Corridor roads. Togbe Kwesi said the many abandoned school projects in the area needed to be re-activated. The Kpalime Traditional Area is made up of eight communities, Kpale, Wegbe, Todome, Hiama, Tsatee, Kaira, Toh and Duga, mainly located along the Weto Mountain Ranges. The Kpalikpakpa festival was instituted to serve as a forum to plan and evaluate development issues of the area and also recognize the bravery of their forbears in their journeys over the years from Western Nigeria to their present location, never ever being ruled by another kingdom. Mr. Kafui Semenu Bekui, South-Dayi District Chief Executive (DCE expressed joy that festivals were no longer for only merry-making, but also for development planning. Mr. Bekui said a lot of school projects had been completed and many more at various levels of completion. He said the roads had now been put under the landing sites accessory roads. Mr. Bekui said a team from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency had been in the area to evaluate the technical problems facing the water system which was inhibiting the flow through the pipes.