Region Minister Paulina Abayage presenting award to Bongo Senior High School
As part of initiatives to practice the decentralization of government activities, the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council moved the regional celebration of this year’s Independence day from Bolgatanga to the Bongo District, which happens to be the first time the event has moved out of the regional capital, Bolgatanga.
Many people from all walks of life travelled to Bongo to witness the event, while the locals there also took advantage to do business. For many locals, the day will be seen as one of the big business days the district has seen in 2019.
This year’s Independence day parade saw 40 schools made up of 11 Primary schools, 20 Junior High Schools and nine Senior High Schools.
There were also two cadet groups and personnel from five Security Agencies, namely the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, CEPS Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, The Ghana Prison Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.
Touching on the theme: “Celebrating Peace and Unity”, the Upper East Regional Minister, Paulina Patience Abayage who happens to be the first female regional Minister, called on the people of the region to remember the enemies of the region as illiteracy, diseases and poverty and always unite to fight against these instead of themselves.
“…our bigger challenge as a people is poverty and the situation is further worsened by large-scale indiscipline in all sectors of our society. In this crusade, parents, teachers and all stakeholders have vital roles to play in spreading the message of honesty, tolerance, peace and harmony, ” she said.
Madam Abayage called on teachers and elders and all other stakeholders not to only preach virtues, but must be seen practicing them and be role models for communities and the children and youth they lead and handle.
She re-echoed her call for the people of the region to drastically reduce the spate of littering if it cannot be curbed totally now.
“Besides our cities, our towns and villages are all engulfed in filth resulting in the occurence of diseases such as cholera, malaria and other associated diseases. All these diseases which constitute a threat to our live can be avoided if we keep our environment clean. I wish therefore to make a clarion call to all our teachers, chiefs, opinion leaders and the youth to launch a crusade against the filth that has become our bed fellow.” Mada Abayage called.
The Upper East Regional Director of Education, Augustine Ayirezang described the theme for this year’s celebration as apt considering the fact that without peace and unity the region cannot develop as expected and this can affect the education of the country’s human resource base.
“…Therefore we must all be instruments of peace wherever we find ourselves. To ensure peace and unity in our schools, pupil/students should learn to see their teachers as their own parents and vice versa. Parents should also learn to respect their wards’ teachers and resort to the use of dialogue as a trump card when in doubt to resolving issues. My dear parents, your expectations of teacher should match your commitment as a parent.” He noted.
Delegations from the republics of Togo and Burkina-Faso joined in the celebration at Bongo, in line with the friendship that has existed within the two countries.
FROM: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bongo