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Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI, President of the Upper West Region House of Chiefs has pledged their support to the government’s initiative to create new districts in the region and elevate some existing ones to Municipalities.

He said some of the districts operated on difficult terrain and if split would facilitate effective and efficient service delivery especially in the areas of health and education.

Kuoro Kanton VI who said this during the general meeting of the House in Wa expressed gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the initiative, adding that the gesture was a reassuring way of demonstrating to the Ghanaian people government’s commitment to the development of the country through the decentralisation concept.

Kuoro Kanton VI who is also the Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area and Upper West Regional Representative to the Council of State also lauded government for implementing the “Planting for Food and Jobs” (PFJs) and the fertilizer subsidy programmes and hoped that the “One-Village-One-Dam” programme would materialize to stem the North-South drift of the youth.

“I will take this chance to appeal to Chiefs to create land banks in their respective traditional areas to make land accessible to the youth and investors”, he said and added that if farmers were not given good prices the gains made would be short-lived because there would be no motivation to increase food production in the future.

The President of the Upper West Region House of Chiefs therefore appealed to government to put in place appropriate measures to buy the produce from farmers to create buffer stock, export and eliminate middle men by rewarding farmers with good prices.

Kuoro Kanton VI noted that in recent times, they witnessed significant concerns from civil society organisations and concerned Ghanaians over the indiscriminate burning of bush and its negative effects on climate change.

He therefore urged his colleague Paramount Chiefs to liaise with their respective District Assemblies to enact and enforce by-laws to end the practice which according to him was gradually drifting their God gifted arable land into a desert.

“As traditional Leaders, it is important for us to support government policies particularly the PFJs and this can only be achieved by ending bush fires”, he said.

 “Now that you have been inducted into the House, note that your position is unique. Your life must be exemplary and worthy of emulation. Your dress code action and behaviour should be regulated as a result. You necessarily have to adhere to the laws of Ghana, the 1992 Constitution, the Chieftaincy Act and other laws of the land”, he advised.

Kuoro Kanton VI also commended the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs foravailabling to the House, sufficient Handbooks on Chieftaincy and urged members of the House to endeavour to study and be abreast with the laws governing the chieftaincy institution.