Veep Urges Chiefs To Reduce Disputes

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has urged traditional leaders in the Greater Accra Region to reduce land and chieftaincy disputes in order to attract investors to the region. He said issues of land litigation and land guards were creating insecurity for both domestic and foreign investors who could not have their peace to develop and create jobs for the people. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he joined the chiefs and people of Ga-Dangme to celebrate Homofest 2014 and World Tourism Day in Accra on Saturday. This year�s festival, which was on the theme: �Unity and Development,� brought all the chiefs and people of the Greater Accra Region together to promote peace and unity. The event was also used to showcase the rich culture and tradition of the people of Ga-Dangme through their history, music, stories, rituals and dance. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said the numerous land litigations in the region threatened the unity and development that the people were striving to achieve. He urged the traditional leaders not to resort to violence to resolve problems as that could create uncertainty and insecurity among the people. Vice President Amissah-Arthur also charged the traditional leaders to use festivals as ways to promote development in the Greater Accra Region. He said since June, this year, the Government had had to cope with the outbreak of cholera in almost all the regions of the country with many lives lost and hospitals stretched in dealing with these cases. He said cholera is preventable and it was crucial that the people addressed the poor sanitation conditions in their communities to avoid the disease. Vice President Amissah-Arthur noted that recently the Government had to mobilise support from companies to help the assemblies to remove refuse heaps in their electoral areas. �We cannot create filth and expect somebody from outside to come and clean it for us,� he added. Vice President Amissah-Arthur expressed support for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for the initiative to use one Saturday in every month as self-help day to clean the communities. He called for collaboration between the chiefs and various assemblies to mobilise the people to help clean their communities.