Yagbonwura launches education foundation
The Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I, has stated that the government alone cannot meet the educational requirements of every community and, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders to contribute to expanding the frontiers of education in order to increase school enrolment and achievement.
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He said he had taken great inspiration from his good friend, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu, to establish the Yagbon Foundation to complement the government’s support.
The Yagbonwura also indicated that a Gonjaland Economic Forum would be held in Accra towards the end of the first quarter of this year to discuss investment opportunities within the Gonjaland, which boasts over two million acres of rich farm lands, and to invite local and foreign investors to work towards bringing to fruition a 10-year development plan for the area.
He used the occasion to thank President John Dramani Mahama on behalf of his people for his singular initiative in seeing to the construction of the Fulfulso- Sawla road.
According to him, during his first anniversary as the overlord of the area, the President said “If this road is not constructed, what message would I have for the Gonjaland in 2016?” and indicated that the people of the land were grateful that the President had redeemed his pledge.
The Vice-President, Mr Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, said peace and stability were prerequisites for development, and commended the people of Gonjaland for the peace and stability that had existed among them.
According to him, the way the Gonja people resolved whatever differences among them in a peaceful manner made them unique in the country.
He commended the Yagbonwura for the good initiative in establishing the educational fund which would provide support to the people and also complement the efforts of the government. He said the foundation should be given the needed support by the people of Gonjaland.
The Vice-President said it was the responsibility of everyone to support the foundation to tackle education right from the grassroot to the national level. He said he was very happy to witness the rich culture which was displayed by the Yagbon Damba, and thanked the people of Gonja for the warm reception accorded him.
Launching the Yagbon Foundation, the Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, said the vision of the foundation was “to accelerate school enrolment and achievement in Gonjaland and its environs in order to promote balanced and sustainable development in the area”.
He explained that it was also meant to provide financial support to needy, brilliant pupils and students in Gonjaland to enable them to rise to higher echelons of education and decision making.
The regional minister said the Yagbonwura had already released a large tract of land to enable the foundation to undertake farming and animal husbandry as part of efforts to generating the much needed funds for the foundation.
Alhaji Limuna said the Yagbonwura had secured GH¢100,000 for the next five years to fund the activities of the foundation.
The Damba festival is the biggest festival in Gonja, one of merrymaking and great expectations. Damba is celebrated in the Islamic lunar month of Rabiu Awal on the twelfth day when the Prophet Mohammed was born. Damba is a corruption of “dumba” which is the word for festivities in the Mande language.
Some chiefs who graced the occasion were the Chianapio (Paramount Chief of the Chiana Traditional Area), Pe Ditundini Adiali; the Navropio (Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area); Awoleba Adda Tumu Koro Kuoro (Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area), Richard Babini Kanton VI; and the Fanyinama Nana Ussif (Chief of Wangara community in Ghana).
Donations to the Yagbon Foundation both in pledges and cash totalled GH¢104,355, as well as 10 laptops.