The honour which was bestowed on him at the just-ended Damba festival is also in recognition of his contribution to the overall develop­ment of Gonjaland and Damongo in particular.

Mr Garlus has served in various capacities as a politician and private individual as well as the District Chief Executive for West Gonja District, championed and fully participated in the process leading to the construc­tion of the 148.5km Fufulso-Damon­go-Sawla road by the government of ex-President John Dramani Mahama between 2012 and 2015.

According to the council, during the period he was the DCE and an MP, the Damongo Constituency wit­nessed significant physical infrastruc­ture and human resource develop­ment which led the late Busunuwura Nungbaso to give him the title “Ye ne awura”, to wit, the one who fulfills his promises.

The council recalled that during his tenure, he was able to secure about 25 scholarships for students at various levels of tertiary education and instituted the first ever award scheme for the best BECE students as well as supported the operations of CAMFED in propelling girl-child education.

It further said that under his lead­ership as MP he managed to get most of the communities, including Busunu, Nabori, Achubunyor, Mempeasem connected to the national grid.

Mr Gurlus in a short remarks said “this honour was neither arranged nor exaggerated, it was on merit. It is my pledge that I, together with President Mahama, will ensure the timely execu­tion of the Damongo Water Project­when elected in the December general elections.