News
Chief implores citizen to help develop rural c’nities
The Paramount Chief of Enyan Denkyira Traditional Area, Osabarima Otsibu VI, has appealed to citizens of rural communities who have made it to see it as a mission to help develop their towns and villages.
According to the chief, life has always been difficult in rural communities and help from elsewhere, even government assistance, is hard to get and the well-to-do citizens constitute the easiest source to fall on for support.
Osabarima Otsibu said this last Saturday during a short ceremony held at his palace at Enyan Denkyira in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District of the Central Region, to affirm Mr Kweku Gyasi Essel, the Ghanaian Times/The Spectator Night Editor, as head of the Twidan Ebusua (clan) of the town.
Praising the citizens for their support in the town’s development, he said, “just recently, one of these public-spirited citizens single-handedly renovated basic school blocks at the cost of GHc200, 000.”
He encouraged Mr Essel, now going by the title Ebusuapanyin, to do well to bring a change in traditional leadership that would maintain the cordial relationship between his clan and the rest of the community.
“This will eventually help to enhance the development of the clan and our town,” he said.
He said all manner of leaders had failed in things they could have avoided and asked Ebusuapanyin Essel to “eschew hearsay and cronyism.”
In a brief acceptance, Ebusuapanyin Essel, who now has the responsibility of presiding over issues that concern his maternal clan and being the traditional contact between the clan and any individual, group or community that would like to have any dealings with the clan, promised to maintain the unity in the clan and share ideas with the clan members with regard to how to improve their lives.
The newly-appointed traditional leader said, “I pledge to support the chiefs and other traditional leaders to develop the town.
“I will make sure l don’t bring disappointment and disgrace to my clan and community; rather I will endeavour to help to improve lives”.
The Adontsenhen of the traditional area and a member of the Twidan clan, Okumanyin Eduah I, also promised to support Ebusuapanyin Essel to succeed but asked him to “be selfless, firm and tolerant.”
Another traditional leader, Etsifi Asona Ebusuapanyin Kwesi Tweiku, a businessman known in private life as Uncle Siisi Crentsil, welcomed Ebusuapanyin Essel into the midst of the traditional leadership of the town and asked him to be resolute in all his dealings.
The ceremony was attended by other traditional leaders mostly clan members.
By Spectator Reporter
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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