President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday assured the chiefs and people of the Volta Region that he would never take the Region for granted.
“Indeed, I shall never take any Region for granted. I pledge to ensure that the Volta Region gets its deserved fair share of the development cake,” he said.
President Mahama gave the assurance in a speech read on his behalf at a grand durbar of chiefs and people of Asogli State to climax this year’s Asogli Yam Festival in Ho.
The assurance from the President was in response to a recent admonishing by Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of Asogli and President of the Region House of Chiefs to politicians against taking the area for granted.
President Mahama said: “Just as President Rawlings and President Atta Mills never forgot about the Volta Region, so shall President John Dramani Mahama never forget about the Volta Region.”
He said he would be the first person to admit that there is still a lot more to do in the region and gave the assurance that the area would see more accelerated growth in his second term as President because of the solid foundation he had laid for “real” growth and development.
President Mahama called on the electorate to expose politicians who peddle falsehood and pledged his preparedness to ensure that nobody disturbs peace in the nation before, during and after the general election.
Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Speaker of Parliament, who read the President’s speech said the Region had witnessed tremendous progress since 1993.
Togbe Afede charged politicians to direct their energies at wealth creation to “pull our people out of poverty, so that they can be happy and there would be unity and peace, which are necessary conditions for continuing stability and development”.
He asked them to desist from finding ways and means of getting unfair advantage at the polls because such acts often lead to chaos.
Togbe Afede urged them to shun tribal politics and unite the citizenry for accelerated development.
“I believe we are more similar than dissimilar, and our differences are mostly political constructions-our politicians always try to exploit tribal differences.”
He charged chiefs and other traditional rulers to play their roles for free, fair and peaceful elections in December.
Togbe Agorkoli IV, Ewefiaga of Notse and President Togolese National House of Chiefs said Ghana is noted for peace and urged stakeholders in the December polls to play by the rules and accept results of the elections.
The durbar attracted chiefs from across the country, local and international tourists, government officials and members of the diplomatic corps.
–
Source: GNA