Particularly, they stressed that chiefs, Members of Parliament (MPs) and District Chief Executives (DCEs) who were the main facilitators of development at the local level needed to prioritise the progress of their areas by avoiding unnecessary partisanship and other divisive tendencies.

Those who made the call were the Oti Regional Minister, Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta-North, John Oti Bless; the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Nkwanta North, William K. Nawugma, and the Paramount Chief of  Kpassa, Ubor Konja Tassan VI.

The conference, which was held on the theme "Empowering Kikpakpaang for National Development," brought together Konkombas from all parts of the country.

It served as a platform to discuss key development challenges confronting the people and proffer workable solutions.

The Oti Regional Minister stressed that while it was good for everyone to strive for excellence, particularly in the political space, that should not breed hatred among the people.

"Everyone must be jealous but that jealousy should be directed towards doing things better to improve the lives of our people; it should not be used to pull others down.

 If we are pulling others down and envying them for their position, we cannot develop," he said.

Mr Makubu also urged KOYA to encourage their members to be focused on their personal development and also prioritise education to be useful to themselves and relevant to the country. 

Unity key

For his part, the Nkwanta North MP said chieftaincy disputes and extreme partisan politics were the two major issues hampering development, especially in rural areas and must be tackled head-on.

Mr Bless stressed that politics of hate, insults and acrimony was cancerous as it brewed tensions, derailed peace and retarded development.

Mr Nawugma also reiterated the need for chiefs in the Nkwanta North District to work with the DCE to ensure that government policies were implemented to benefit of the people.

"Anytime a government project will be implemented, we need our chiefs to release land so that we can roll it out; but if there is no unity between chiefs and the DCE, this cannot be done," he said. 

Nursing training

Ubor Konja VI called on the government to establish a Nursing Training College in the Nkwanta North District to give opportunity to many students in rural areas to pursue careers in nursing.

"We have allocated many acres of land for the nursing training school,” he said.

The KOYA President, Jawol Titus, said it was important for state institutions to work in a manner that empowers the younger generation.