Veep celebrates Kakube Festival with chiefs, people of Nandom

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, last Sunday, joined the chiefs and the people of the Nandom Traditional Area to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Kakube Festival at Nandom in the Upper West Region.

The Kakube Festival is celebrated to mark the end of the farming season each year and to show appreciation to the ‘Almighty’ for His guidance and protection during the farming season.

It is also an occasion for the people of the traditional area to renew relationships and put on display their rich culture and traditions.

Quality education

Speaking on the theme for the festival: “Quality Education and Cultural Integration: Pre-Requisite For National Development”, Dr Bawumia indicated that the government was committed to providing holistic national development, as well as enhanced access to quality education, through the implementation of far-reaching policies and programmes.

“Quality education and good cultural upbringing require leadership commitment. Our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is walking the talk. Through the government’s agenda for jobs programme, it is implementing quality economic and social development policies,” he said.

According to Vice-President Bawumia, the implementation of these programmes started with free senior high school (SHS) in 2017.

“With the implementation of the free SHS, 90,000 of our brothers and sisters who would otherwise have been at home gained access to SHS education. This year, 180,000 more have gained admission to SHS. That is a total of 270,000 teenagers who would otherwise not have gained access to education in just two years. These are teenagers who want to go to school rather than be selling on the roadside and getting into trouble. You can imagine the numbers in 10 or 15 years. Free SHS is clearly an agenda to create a future with prosperity and equal opportunities,” he explained.

Other programmes, such as Planting for Food and Jobs, which had led to self-sufficiency in maize for Ghana, as well as the provision of subsidised fertiliser and improved seeds for farming and the provision of essential infrastructure to address sanitation and water supply needs, through the Infrastructure for Poverty Reduction Programme (IPEP), are also ongoing,” he indicated.

Peace

The Vice-President, who was the special guest of honour, commended the people of Nandom for the peace the traditional area continued to enjoy and urged them to use it as a platform for the accelerated development of the area.

Vice-President Bawumia also commended Naa (Dr) Puo-Uore Chiir VII, the Paramount Chief and President of the Nandom Traditional Council for his able leadership over the years that had led to peace and progress in the traditional area.

“I wish to congratulate you on this celebration and this alone is clear testimony of the peace and unity that exist among you. I encourage you to maintain this high standard of peace and unity. And let that become a platform for development for the Nandom people so that it will become an example for others,” he added.

Construction of roads

The Paramount Chief of Nandom, Naa (Dr) Puo-Uore Chiir VII, thanked the government for fulfilling the promise made to the chiefs last year to construct a number of roads in the traditional area.

He also commended it for implementing the free SHS programme, which had alleviated the huge financial burden parents had faced over the years, as well as the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, which had provided essential support for farmers.

The One-village, One-dam programme, he said, would be a welcome relief and provide opportunity for year-round farming.

Earlier in the day, the Vice-President had inspected ongoing works on the Nandom town roads and urged the contractors, P & W Ghanem Limited, to ensure the highest quality of road to guarantee the people of Nandom value for money on the investment.