• Nana Dekye I delivering his speech

 The Guantoahen of Shama Traditional Area in the Shama District of the Western Region, Nana Kwamina Dekye I has appealed to workers in the Shama District to initiate development projects in the area for posterity to appreciate their efforts.

He said workers all over the country should team up and start some projects in areas they work for the indigenes to remember them after they have left the community.

Nana Dekye I was delivering a speech at a ceremony at the River Side, Shama, to raise funds for the construction of a two floor building to be used as a community centre for the people of Shama.

He said “if you do not bring development to the community you work who would come and develop the place since government alone could not reach all communities at the same time.

“We don’t have to wait for gov­ernment to come before we start constructing a school or bore hole but start and request government to come in and assist.”

Nana Kwamina Dekye I who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Lower Pra Rural Bank said when it came to community development the people must take the first step and this would encourage gov­ernment to assist them adding “the development of Shama lies in the hands of the people here and not government but govern­ment can come in”.

He said the people of Shama should stop complaining about the absence of a paramount chief but take their own des­tiny into their hands and start working for the development of the area.

Nana Dekye 1 known in private life as Mr. Isaac Kwamina Afful said the people of Shama were not in competition with anybody so any project started could go on as funds continued to flow into the project account.

He said it was not palatable to work in a place and invest in a different area simply because you did not come from that area who told you the children you got from that community would travel back home or to a differ­ent community.

He appealed to all workers in the district to open accounts with the Lower Pra Rural Bank because it was the 5th Best Rural Bank in the country out of 149 so the bank’s performances were outstanding.

The District Chief Executive of Shama, Mr. Ebenezer Dadzie praised Nana Dekye 1 for his con­tribution to the development of the district.

He said Nana Dekye con­structed a modern one storey Police Station for the district, provided potable water and a number of schools for some communities in the district.

He appealed to the people to come together in any small way for the development of Shama.

The Chairman of the fund raising, Mr. Isaac Kwamina Vaness said Rwanda was the neatest country in Africa after coming out of a civil war because the indigenes came together to de­velop the country through the good leadership of their president.

He said good leaders like Nana Dekye 1 always thought of the development of the areas they operated so it was now the duty of the people to stand out boldly and support him to execute his dream for the development of Shama.

From Peter Gbambila-Shama.