By Kwame Asare Boadu, Kodie
EASTER Monday would forever be remembered in the annals of the Afigya Kwabre District in the Ashanti Region.
On that day, the district assembly organised a successful homecoming for citizens that drew some of the notable citizens of the district to Kodie, the district capital, where the event took place.
Among them was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, General Manager (Newspapers) of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, MP for Afigya Sekyere West, Mr Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, MP for Afigya Kwabre, and Mr Akenten Appiah-Menkah, an industrialist.
Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, also a citizen of the district was not present but was represented and together with his husband, former President Jerry Rawlings, presented cash of GH¢1,000 towards the construction of the new assembly building. The other personalities also made donations.
At the ceremony, 15 citizens including all those mentioned above were honoured for portraying the image of the district in good light.
They were presented with certificates of recognition.
The homecoming, organised by the district assembly in conjunction with the chiefs on the theme, “Mobilising human resources for socio-economic development,” was meant to showcase the development potentials of the district and plan for the establishment of a rural bank for the district.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said at the ceremony that, it was remarkable that a district which is just two-years-old could organise such a successful homecoming.
He noted that the level of development in every locality was related to its human resource and therefore, stressed the need for the people to help develop the potentials of the youth in the area.
He stated that as the government invested in the people, so should the local authorities also invest in their people.
This was because human resource was crucial to the development of every community.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah noted the difficulties confronting the district assembly were as a result of the inability of the previous government to put certain infrastructure in place before the creation of the district.
He disclosed that under the government’s district resourcing project, 30 districts created by the previous government would be assisted with various projects to reduce the burden on them.
The deputy minister commended the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Kaakyire Oppong Kyekyeku, for his hard work, which had seen the district achieve some measure of development within the relatively short period that he had been in office.
He stated that the government was also taking agriculture seriously and that 1000 tractors had been imported from India to support the development of agriculture in the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Iddrisu described the event as very important, taking into consideration the challenges facing the district since its establishment about two years ago.
She said the district had people of vision in all spheres of national life and it was important they came together to chart a common path towards the development of the district.
The minister said if they were able to unite for development, the district would be a force to reckon with.
She appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to go to the aid of the district in addressing some of the challenges in the road sector.
The District Chief Executive, Mr Kaakyire Oppong-Kyekyeku, said the creation of the district came with many difficulties and even the first Common Fund allocation was sent to another district before it was returned to the district.
He said the decision to establish a rural bank for the district was very important because it would help accelerate the development of the district.
The DCE expressed regret that the district assembly operated from a filling station because of lack of offices and disclosed that the assembly had initiated the construction of a new district headquarters building, with funds from the common fund.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh urged the people to shed their political considerations in matters bordering on the development of the district.
He said the current generation of citizens had a duty to help in building a better district for posterity “and we cannot fail”.
Other speakers included Mr Owusu-Ansah, MP for Afigya Kwabre, Mr Kusi Appiah, the Regional Co-ordinating Director and Mr Appiah-Minkah.
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