She explained that when the public was given the impression to believe that their traditional leaders were not acting on principle or being inconsistent, the trust and respect in them, as leaders, would definitely wane.

“The current near silence by too many of our leaders in the face of a clearly malfunctioning governance system, along with its high cost of living, among other debilitating challenges, cannot be compared with the unrestrained criticisms that came from some of them in the time of the NDC administration,” she said.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was addressing a grand durbar to climax the celebration of 2023 Avatime AMU festival at Avatime Dzogbefeme in the Ho West Constituency of the Volta Region. 

Collective struggle  

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, who is a former Minister of Education, admitted that the nation’s history had been with difficulties, including experiences with dictatorship and worse enslavement.

However, she said same history had good examples of innovation, creation, triumph and a solid sense of identity. 

She said the common denominator had been the spirit of a collective struggle to throw off the yoke of oppression.

“We didn’t just sit back.

Our forebears-men, women and the youth -strategised and confronted the issues and as byproducts, created better options for survival beyond tolerance of brute force. 

Those examples made citizens feel secure and they instilled a sense of obligation never to connive in the destruction of their lives and those of their future generations,” she explained.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang therefore, implored the traditional leaders to help everyone, particularly the youth, to appreciate what their past had been and the structures that had kept them alive in current times.

Women, flood victims

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang used the opportunity to urge the women to be encouraged by the active roles their forebears had played and continued to play in many spheres of life.

These, she said, included medicine and healing; the military,the judiciary, food production and processing; metal processing; and very important, nurturing individuals, families, communities; caring for our elderly people and keeping the peace among a multiplicity of roles.

In that vein, she paid special tribute to the women of Avatime for continuing the invaluable work of Onitse Amu 1, as she set in clear and practical terms the whole chain of agribusiness through her cultivation, processing, storage and distribution of brown rice, a healthy nutritious food item.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang further used the platform to express her gratitude to all those who sympathised with the victims of the Akosombo and Kpong dams spillage by way of prayers and donations to alleviate their suffering.

She highlighted the contributions of business mogul, Ibrahim Mahama, for the massive support and empathy given to those in distress.

She recalled Mr Mahama’s involvement in the dredging exercise, directing the water away from the flooded areas.