He said during the President’s last visit to the palace, he promised to fix the road as his parting gift to the people of the region.

The Wa Naa, therefore, reminded the President and implored him to honour his promise to the Upper West Region, saying the deplorable nature of that road was terrible and travelling on it had become a nightmare and an ordeal. 

Dumba festival

Naa Pelpuo made the appeal last Friday at the climax of this year’s Dumba festival celebrated by the people of the Wala State.

The weeklong celebration was on the theme: “Uniting our Heritage, Embracing our Future: Celebrating Resilience and Progress in the Wala State.”

In a speech read on his behalf, the Wa Naa also expressed his concerns about what he described as ritual murders that had created some insecurity in the region.

He said that situation had been worsened by the lack of street lights in the municipality, although the Regional Security Council had stepped in to stem the tide, while with the support of the communities, the Wala Traditional Council had also set up a Neighbourhood Watchdog Committee which patrolled the communities at night.

Naa Pelpuo said through the efforts of the watchdog committee, there had been a clampdown on the activities of notorious drug peddlers who were arrested and handed over to the police.

He, however, appealed to the government to support the effort of the traditional council by recognising the community guards and supporting them in their work.

Naa Pelpuo also called on the government to consider carving out a new district from the municipality and elevating Wa to a metropolis, to ensure balanced development for the communities within the state.

Security threat

In his address, the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, cautioned the people, especially politicians, not to give reasons to infiltrators to cause mayhem in the country.

He said there were people who were determined to disrupt the social order of the country “and are using every trick because of the elections to cause mayhem.”

He said intelligence picked up by the security agencies indicated that some of these people were already in the country.

Consequently, he called on the public to be vigilant and watchful and inform the security agencies if they observed anything or an unusual movement.

Mr Asamoah Boateng said law and order remained the topmost priority of the government and it had therefore reinforced its commitment to the security agencies to have a robust approach to security.

He urged the security agencies to engage the communities to desist from any act that would divide the country.

Compensation

Commenting on the drought that has affected farmers in the northern part of the country this year, Mr Asamoah Boateng said the cabinet had approved some relief packages for the affected farmers.

He said the package included monetary compensation, farming inputs and machinery for farmers who had lost out during the farming season.

The Dumba festival is an annual festival celebrated by the descendants of Naa Gbewaa to take stock of activities of the various traditional areas and to renew their allegiance to the overlord.

The festival is also used to test the physical fitness of the Wa-Naa to continue to reign. During the festival, the Wa-Naa must jump over a cow to show his physical fitness to continue to sit on the skin.

The Dumba is celebrated by Mamprusi, Wala, Dagomba, Nanumba and people from the Gonja land.