Be ambassadors of peace - First Lady urges community leaders
The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, has urged leaders in all communities to be ambassadors of peace in the run-up to the December general election.
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She said peace was a necessary condition for development and prosperity, adding that “where there is peace, people engage in economic activity without obstruction and can raise their living standards by working hard”.
She said the government also needed peace in the land to continue rolling out its agenda for transformation.
Mrs Mahama was addressing the chiefs and people of the Wangara community in Kintampo at their annual Kurubi Festival.
She said as Ghana prepared to go to the polls, it was important for everybody to promote peace and live peacefully with one another.
The theme for the festival was: “Peaceful coexistence, the panacea to sustainable development."
Mrs Mahama, therefore, advised the youth to avoid all activities that would endanger the peace of the country, saying; “Don’t allow yourselves to be used by politicians to cause trouble.”
Youth to be patient
She also advised the youth to be patient, disciplined, diligent, hardworking and respectful to their chiefs and elders.
The Kurubi Festival is an occasion to re-enact the history of the Wangara people who are predominantly Muslims. It is, therefore, celebrated to commemorate the descending of the first verse of the Holy Qur’an (96:1-5) to the Prophet Muhammad on the 27th night of the month of the Ramadan.
The highlight of the colourful Kurubi Festival also marked the Wangara community’s allegiance to the traditional paramountcy of Kintampo.
Preserved culture
The First Lady, who hails from Kintampo, said with her husband, President Mahama, being a native of Bole, they both had strong links with the Wangara people who, mainly as Gonjas, had preserved a valuable part of their tradition as Ghanaians.
She said apart from the people’s generosity, hospitality and skills in commerce, as well as being pioneers in Islamic scholarship, the Kurubi Festival had become one of the most recognised traditional events on Ghana’s cultural calendar.
She added that it was worth noting that all Ghanaians were bound by their different cultures that identified them as different ethnic groups but united in diversity.
Tourism sector
Mrs Mahama expressed the government’s commitment to improving the tourism sector of the country, since tourism was currently a significant contributor to Ghana’s economic growth, with the potential to overtake some traditional export commodities in the near future.
She said the government had completed a 15-year tourism development plan which it intended to implement in its next term of office.
“A provident fund is also to be set up for ageing artistes to receive a modest monthly stipend so they do not live in poverty,” she announced.
She said other things government was looking at was the redesigning and upgrading of the Efua Sutherland Park to be a real entertainment and amusement centre for children and their parents.
Political leaders
The President of the Council of Wangara in Ghana, Alhaji Nana Yusef Fanyinama III, entreated political leaders to encourage their teeming supporters to sustain the prevailing peace.
Alhaji Fanyinama III also commended the government “for the wonderful support in the Kintampo Municipality in the areas of road construction, provision of street and traffic lights, schools and other major developments”.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Art, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said the ministry would continue to promote the Kurubi Festival to the international level to attract tourists.