• The newly gazetted chiefs

 The Gomoa-Akyempem Traditional Council, Central Region, over the weekend outdoored some newly gazetted chiefs in the area, urging them to be selfless in discharging their duties to their communities.

The four chiefs were, Chief Mohammed Jakpa Dingoro Bore­sa Kanyiti 1, Chief of the Gonja Community in the area; Kabiesi Kasim Baba Ibo Kegumbe 1, chief of Yoruba community; Sar­ki Mohammed Issaka, Songhai Chief: and Wuro Issaka Moham­med, Chief of Kotokolis.

President of the Council, Sarki Tahirou Awudu Zaaki, speaking at the outdooring programme underscored the need for traditional leaders to also contribute towards the development of their various communities.

He said being a chief comes with many responsibilities including supporting govern­ment’s developmental efforts.

“As a chief you are in a position to serve your people so do not have it in mind that partner­ you have been put in that position to be served. You must not be proud of yourself if the community you lead is in a very deplorable state because there are some steps you can take to improve upon the state of wherever you have been put in charge of,” he stressed.

Development, he said did not always mean injecting huge sums of money into various projects, adding that efforts at promoting clean­liness, ensuring peaceful partner­

coexistence and educating community members on the relevance of sending their wards to school and taking good care of their health are all forms of pro­moting development.

According to him it was high time misconceptions that Zongo chiefs were from slums and underde­veloped communities is changed by taking up the responsibility of developing the Zongos.

Sarki Zaaki also called the promotion of to­getherness among all chiefs within the Akyempem Tradi­tional Council and beyond, saying togetherness made the achievement of set down goals for the betterment of the whole country easy.

He was of the view that when chiefs are united and live in harmony, the people will also be united, saying “we must set good examples for the people to emulate.”

Touching on the need to harness the culture of the country, Muslims especially, he said more education in Zongo communities must be done so as to bring the “borrowed cul­ture syndrome” to an end.

The Chief Imam of the Coun­cil, Imam Tajuddeen Gyaragari, also admonished chiefs and their elders to be extremely prayerful and should not take their leadership for granted.

The secretary to the Coun­cil, Mr Abdul Aziz Ismail Otoo, said it was with sense of pride to have such a wonderful and dedicated Council of Zongo Chiefs under their jurisdiction who were selfless and hard working towards the develop­ment of youth and the commu­nities as well.

The Public Relations Officer to the Council Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed Ibrahim Sadique spoke about the need for the chiefs to take the opportunities in chieftaincy to better their lots and that of their people.

Other issues discussed included the Gomoa Akyempim Zongo festival and the benefits that come with it and then the need to take the chieftaincy institution seriously.

By Raissa Sambou