Queenmother of Gomoa Mpota undertakes development projects
The Queenmother of Gomoa Mpota, Nana Appiah Baiduwa III, has charged traditional leaders not to be only interested in the sale of lands to lead luxurious lifestyles at the expense of their people.
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She said rather, traditional rulers, who are custodians of the land in their traditional areas, should be development-oriented by undertaking projects that would better the lot of the people.
She called on them to use proceeds from the sale of lands to fund the construction of social amenities that would improve the living conditions of the people.
Providing facilities
In an interview with the Daily Graphic at Gomoa Mpota, Nana Appiah Baiduwa recalled that before the introduction of modern systems of government, the traditional system compelled chiefs to provide facilities for their people, adding that this must be revisited by chiefs to enable them to address the needs of their people without waiting for long years for government intervention.
The queen mother was speaking during a working visit to her town by the Gomoa East District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Jonamoah Moses Jehu-Appiah, and officials of the district assembly, including Mr Emmanuel Baisie, the District Coordinating Director. The visit, initiated by the DCE, had the objective of the assembly officials interacting with the community members in order to deepen local governance in the district.
The 27-year-old queenmother, who is an entrepreneur, has personally funded the construction of a modern clinic, a community centre, 16-seater public place of convenience, as well as eight washrooms for the people.
The aforementioned projects, which started about seven months ago, are at various stages of completion and are being executed simultaneously.
Poverty
She says the Gomoa area, where her town is located, is very deprived as it lacks many basic facilities, noting that chiefs must be more concerned about the needs of their people than their individual parochial interests.
According to Nana Baiduwa, the clinic, when completed, would benefit the surrounding communities too.
The queenmother indicated that people who were enstooled as chiefs must work so that their source of sustenance would not be tied to the sale of lands. She added that such a move would put an end to the indiscriminate selling of land by traditional leaders with its attendant consequences on future generations in particular.
Commendation
Mr Jehu-Appiah commended Nana Baiduwa for her resolve to undertake the aforementioned projects without waiting for the assembly or the central government.
He stated that the intervention by the queenmother was in line with the assembly’s recently launched initiative to support self-help projects undertaken by communities.
He encouraged other communities to emulate Nana Baiduwa and undertake projects as the assembly was ready to provide both material and technical support towards the completion of such projects.
He donated 100 bags of cement to support the projects.
Teenage pregnancy
In a related development, the Baatanhemaa of Gomoa Akyemfo, also in the Central Region, Nana Kweikua Akonoa II, has pledged her commitment to promote the development of children and also help eliminate the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the Gomoa area.
Speaking to this reporter at Gomoa Assin after swearing the oath of secrecy and allegiance to the Omanhene of the Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council, Obirifo Ahunako Ahor Ankobea II, Nana Akonoa stated that the area was losing most of the youth as a result of parental neglect, and urged parents to provide their children with the required care to enable them to achieve their aspirations.
Sensitisation
Known in private life as Madam Agnes Blankson, Nana Akonoa, a teacher at the Hanna School Complex in Accra, noted that the area, which is a fishing community, was experiencing a high rate of teenage pregnancy, hence the need to devise strategies such as regular sensitisation among the youth to control the situation.
She explained that it was important that the youth were regularly educated on the effects of pre-marital sex to help them lead responsible lives, stating that the lack of parental care in the area had paved the way for their teenage girls to loiter, particularly at night, making them susceptible to sexual abuse.