Wa Naa Commends Govt for Dagbon Peace

By Rex Mainoo Yeboah

The Paramount Chief of Wala Traditional Area, Naa Alhaji Ali Seidu Fuseini Pelpuo, has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for the peaceful settlement of the Dagbon crisis.

Naa Pelpuo said the two traditions share a common ancestry and that the peace brought to Dagbon had invariably motivated them to settle the main chieftaincy issue that confronted the Wala Traditional Area.

The Wa Naa said the peaceful settlement of chieftaincy disputes at any traditional area in the country was key to the progress of the whole country. Naa Pelpuo gave the commendation when he led sub-chiefs of the Wala Traditional Area in the Upper West Region paid a courtesy call on the President at the Jubilee House, Accra on Friday, May 10, 2019.

He also commended President Akufo-Addo for the implementation of the Free SHS policy, One Village, One Dam, and NABCO, which he said had engaged the majority of the youth in his traditional area.

With the implementation of the One Village, One Dam, Naa Pelpuo admitted that it had helped to increase the yield of farm produce in the area and urged the government to expedite the completion of the rest of the project.

Other issues raised by the chief that are key to the development of his traditional area are autonomy of the Wa Campus of University for Development Studies, the conversion of Wa Polytechnic to a Technical University, rehabilitation of Wa Regional Hospital, the construction and rehabilitation of the road network, especially the Bole - Bamboi road, as well as the division of the Municipality to deepen the country's decentralization concept.

Naa Pelpuo later invited the President to participate in the Centenary of the Damba Festival in 2020.

In his response, President Akufo-Addo said the Dagbon conflict was a matter of concern to his government. "I am very happy that the Dagbon settlement is having this kind of consequence and ripple effect, that today the long-standing dispute in the Wala Traditional Area has come to a conclusion."

"We can all look forward to the future instead of looking into the past," said President Akufo-Addo.

He commended the Wa Naa for using the occasion to bring about a peaceful settlement in his area. President Akufo-Addo emphasized the importance of the Upper West Region to his Party, the New Patriotic Party, as some great figures and stalwarts of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition come from there "so anything to do with the Upper West, has to do with us - with my party and with my Government."

He expressed gratitude to the Chief and people of Wala Traditional Area for appreciating the numerous social intervention policies the government had implemented over the last two-and-half- years.

"I am happy you're seeing the importance of the work we're doing - and this various flagship programs - One Village, One Dam, Free Senior High School and NABCO, are all part of the bigger picture of how we can get our country moving again.

"Our country had been done like this for far too long and it need not be - we have the men, we have the women, we have the resources. Nature had given us many things, so we have honest and serious leadership, we can get Ghana moving again, and that is what I am determined to do with the time that I have been given here."

The President assured that very soon the legal framework done by the Ministry of Education to make the Wa Campus of UDS autonomous would be completed "so it becomes a reality not just talk."

In the same manner, President Akufo-Addo said the conversion of the Wa Polytechnic into a Technical University is also near conclusion. He commended the Chief's appreciation of the link between the establishment of the technical university to the future industrial development of the country.

The President added, "you have seen the connection and that gives me a lot of enthusiasm and pride that traditional rulers are now traditional rulers for the future not for the past."

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