THE people of the Agotime Traditional Area in the Volta Region last Saturday rounded off their Kente Festival celebration with a grand durbar at Kpetoe held under theme: Attitudinal Change –The Panacea for Our Future Development.
The guest of honour, Ms Rukia Yacoub, Ghana Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that for a brighter future for the younger generation, it was important to re-engineer traditional institutions, inject a sense of discipline in lifestyles and practice the credo that there is dignity in labour.
“As humans we possess the power to create wealth if we transform and harness the resources we have”, she stated.
The WFP country director acknowledged the important role of weaving as a means of livelihood and also highlighted the need to safeguard the environment by adopting appropriate farming techniques and preservation of farm products as a condition of the success of the kente industry.
“Kente weavers and all participants in the kente value chain must be assured of good nutritious food at the most affordable rates in order to guarantee the long term sustainability of this all-important source of livelihood to the people of Agotime”, she added.
Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, former Minister of the Interior who chaired the function, noted that kente masterpieces and their cultural symbols were the ultimate symbol of Agotime.
That, he said, underlined the need for a strong patent regime for the kente pieces to avoid piracy of the product and protect it on the international market as well.
Mr Bani commended the people Agotime for preserving the kente festival which had attracted people from far and near over the years, and urged them to preserve the peace which was vital not only for the sustainability of the festival but also the development progress of the area in general.
The MP of the area, Mr Charles Agbeve reminded the government of the need for a vibrant kente village in Agotime to boost the weaving industry in the area.
In a speech read on his behalf earlier, Nene Nuer Keteku III, Paramount Chief of Agotime, appealed to government to take up the kente festival as a national celebration for it to reap its full tourism potential and to benefit the entire country.
He also renewed his appealed to the government to take urgent steps to carry out the potable water and district hospital projects in Kpetoe.
The durbar was graced by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, former Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia and chiefs from Kpedze, Avatime and other parts of the country.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, KPETOE
