The Paramount Chief said the gesture was in recognition of his demonstration of love and concern for the Sissala people within the one year three months into his government.

Kuoro Kanton VI who is also a Member of the Council of State representing the Upper West Region conferred the title on the President during a durbar to climax the celebration of the annual “Paari Gbielle” Festival of the chiefs and people of the Tumu Traditional Area in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipal.

 He said the President who could not attend the 2017 edition of the “Paari Gbielle” Festival due to a last minute hitch, dispatched the Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs Minister, Mr. Kofi Dzamasi to represent him.

“Today, he has asked you as the first sitting Vice President to grace the climax of “Paari Gbielle” Festival on his behalf”, he said and stressed that this was a clear manifestation of his love for the Sissala People.

The Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia represented the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.  The Paramount Chief emphasized that “in just about a year into the administration of President Akufo-Addo, he has demonstrated beyond every reasonable doubt that he has the Sissala Area at heart”.

“When he called on me at my palace after winning the 2016 Presidential Elections, I put before him three key issues and he did not hesitate in addressing them,” he further emphasized.

Kuoro Kanton VI said first among them was the issue of the debt surrounding many media houses in the country of which RADFORD FM a local community radio station based in Tumu was among. There was a list of media houses that were being threatened with closure by the National Media Commission.

He said the other issues were about the Sissala Language Development and the elevation of Sissala East District to a Municipal status, adding that apart from the firm assurance by the President to follow up with the University of Education – Winneba, they also witnessed the inauguration of Sissala East as a Municipality last Thursday, to further demonstrate his burning desire to see the Sissala land developed.

The Member of Council of State took the opportunity also to appeal for the inclusion of the Nurse Assistant Preventive (NAP) Programme, which used to be known as Community Health Nursing, to the midwifery training programme in the Tumu Midwifery Training College to give opportunity to many young men and women to be enrolled.

Vice President Bawumia said he was very delighted and very much moved by Tumu Kuoro’s decision to name President Akufo-Addo as “Nandon-Tengeh” (True friend). He said indeed the President had been a true friend to the Sissala people and that the gesture by the Paramount Chief was not the only way the Sissala people also demonstrated true spirit of friendship but also the massive support given to the President and his party in the last elections.

“We wish to count on the chiefs and people of the Sissala land to sustain this cordial relationship and friendship,” Dr. Bawumia said.