Amedzofe Rice Festival launched

The Paramount Chief of Avatime Traditional Area, Osie Aja Tekpor VII, has called on chiefs in the country and those in his traditional area in particular, to strive for development for their communities.

Osie Aja Tekpor said chiefs must be agents of change to bring more development to their communities to better the lives of their subjects.

The Paramount Chief of Avatime was speaking at Amedzofe last Saturday during the launch of this year’s annual rice festival (Amu Festival, 2011) for the chiefs and people of Avatime Traditional Area, dubbed “Amedzofe 2011”.

The event marked final preparations towards the celebration of the main event to be celebrated in November this year, on the theme: “Enhancing Eco-Tourism through rice farming”.

The entire Avatime area rises to a height of about 2,000 meters and drops to as low as 500 meters, and has one of the best ecotourism attractions in the country. The Gemi Mountain, which is the second highest point in Ghana, as well as the waterfall at Amedzofe among others, are potential attractions that can be developed to boost the national economy.

It also has vast green vegetation suitable for the production of brown rice, which has the highest nutrients needed for the body. It is traditionally used to prepare baby foods to keep children and adults healthy.

It is against this background that the chiefs and elders of the area have come together to celebrates the Amu Festival each year, to expose the area through the production of brown rice.

Osie Aja Tekpor therefore charged his sub-chiefs in all the seven clans that make the traditional area to settle all disputes; be they chieftaincy or family disputes by the end of 2011.

He stressed the need for the communities under his paramountcy to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings, which usually stifled development.

He consequently directed his sub-chiefs to be mindful of certain actions and statements they made which could result in conflicts.

The paramount chief urged them to rather encourage their citizens to come and help develop Avatime.

The Osie was sad that pupils from the area had consistently performed poorly in the area of academics, and called on those who abused teaching and learning materials to the detriment of the children, to put an immediate stop to it.

Earlier, the Chief of Amedzofe, Okusie Akyem Foli V, advised the youth of the area to use the opportunity that the festivak presents, to get involved in the cultivation of rice in order to improve their living standards.

Okusie Akyem Foli V. stressed the need for the people to stay united, to enable peace to prevail in the area during, before and after the festival.

*Source

                        Daily Graphic             Page 38                       Thursday, August 4, 2011