The people of the Wala traditional Area have celebrated this year’s Dumba Festival in a grand style with rich display of culture amidst drumming and dancing in a colourful event to climax the festival yesterday.
Celebrated under the auspices of the Overlord of the Wala Traditional Area, Wa Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, it was on the theme: “Combating the Emerging threat of Violent Extremism and Terrorism in Ghana: the Role of Traditional Authorities”.
The climax of the 2022 Dumba Festival saw in attendance, traditional authorities, stakeholders, development partners, political and government authorities, including the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, among a significant others.
It also saw the ritual ‘jumping over’ of the cow by the Wa Naa as a symbol of physical fitness to show that the chief can continue to rule, which he performed and publicly viewed as successful.
Naa Pelpuo IV used the occasion of the festival to remind the government of the dire need for the dualisation of the Bamahu-Airport stretch to help ensure the free flow of traffic on that stretch and to also convert the Wa Municipality into a Metropolitan Assembly.
Other requests were; the construction of a polyclinic at Busa and Sing, hostels for the Dr. Hila Limann Technical University, and some roads.
The Wa Naa also appealed to the government to provide the Nursing Training College, Wa with a 3-unit classroom block to facilitate the commencement of a new Post-basic Bachelor of Science in Critical Care Nursing this year.
The revered chief, however, commended the government for the many development interventions implemented in the Traditional Area and expressed hope that those requests would also be granted.
The Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, observed that the role of the chieftaincy institutions was pivotal in ensuring that peace and security prevail in the country.
“I see the chieftaincy as a critical stakeholder in the governance architecture of the country”, he indicated.
Dr. Bawumia, who doubles as Chairman of the Police Council, called on the Regional and District Security Councils to also put in measures to improve the security situation in the Wa Municipality and Region at large.
He said, in the wake of security concerns in Wa and the region at large, the government had deployed a special purpose investigation and intelligence team and other police personnel to the region to beef up the existing human resource and increased visibility, to curb the situation.
He observed that there was a need for peaceful co-existence among the diverse cultures in the Upper West Region to achieve the desired development it sought.
The Vice President assured the Wa Naa and his people of the government’s commitment to ensuring equitable distribution of the national development and said the Wa Municipality and for that matter, the Upper West Region would not be left out in the national development agenda.
He added that the request made by the Wa Naa for the dualisation of major roads in the Wa township among others would be granted in due course.
Meanwhile, the Overlord of the Wala Traditional Area honoured the immediate past Upper West Regional Commander of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP Peter Ndekugri Anambugri for his meritorious service to the region.
DCOP Ndekugri (retired) thanked the Wa Naa for the honour done him saying that he would continue to recognise the region in "whatever" endeavours.
Comments