Daasebre Okogyeaman Duodu Ampem III
The chiefs of Tain Traditional Area in the Bono Region have praised the Akufo-Addo government for introducing the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy on education, asserting that the flagship programme has impacted positively on access to secondary education.
“The people of Tain are so grateful for your Free SHS. Today, most of our people are getting free education and that will help us,” the Chief of Nsawkaw, Daasebre Okogyeaman Duodu Ampem III, said.
He was speaking on behalf of Tain chiefs at a durbar of chiefs held last Thursday at Nsawkaw in honour of Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, the Free SHS would help transform “poor and marginalized communities” across the country, indicating that “it will help to change the socio-economic structure of our district.”
The chief, however, appealed to the government to continue to do more to bridge the socio-economic gap in the country, especially in the Tain District.
“We are part of the marginalized; we are very poor… So every effort that the government will undertake to help us is very critical,” he emphasized, asserting that “your programmes should be geared towards alleviating poverty in the poor communities like Tain.”
Daasebre Ampem acknowledged that there were ongoing projects being undertaken by the government and mentioned the construction of a cashew factory in the area.
Besides, he appealed to government to have a second look at the pricing of cashew to help cashew farmers, saying “we grow cashew and we know there is an attempt to build a cashew factory for us. It is in the process and we are waiting for it.”
Vice-President Dr. Bawumia highlighted plans by the government to prioritize the cultivation and processing of cashew, saying the Tree Crops Development Authority would take care of the cashew farming and other crops.
According to him, the authority would take care of pricing issues of cashew and make determination as it is done for cocoa by the Ghana Cocoa Board.
By Ernest Kofi Adu