Take Advantage of Free SHS to Empower Yourselves--Yeboah-Afari

By Daniel Dzirasah

Sunyani — Former Editor of the Ghanaian Times, Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, has called on traditional authorities of the three regions- Bono, Bono East and Ahafo to take advantage of educational opportunities currently under the free Senior High School Policy, to educate and empower their people.

She noted that the training of the human resource was the surest way to give them the competitive edge as well as realising the aspirations and achievements of their area.

Ms Yeboah-Afari was speaking at a symposium in Sunyani yesterday organised by the Regional House of Chiefs as part of activities to mark the 60th Anniversary celebration of the creation of the erstwhile Brong-Ahafo Region.

Speaking on the theme "Building on the Achievements of the past", the former Editor and columnist paid glowing tribute to the chiefs and queens, especially her late father Mr Boahene Yeboah-Afari, former Brong Ahafo Regional Commissioner under the First Republic for the pioneering role he played in the creation of the Brong- Ahafo Region.

Giving a brief history on the creation of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Ms Yeboah-Afari noted that the creation of the region was in fulfilment of a campaign promise by Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People's Party during the 1956 electioneering period.

She said 60 years after the creation of the Brong- Ahafo Region, a new region had been created out of the old stock.

She suggested to the traditional authorities to consider developing a common language to ensure a sense of pride and belonging to the Bono people.

"Perhaps it is because the Bono Language is not a written language that is why it is not given due respect. I know that there are various dialects so there might be a difficulty in getting a standardised version. But the fact that other languages have their dialects hasn't stopped them from developing the written form, so why can't the same approach be applied to the writing of Bono?" she asked.

The president of the Regional House of Chiefs, Pemampem Yaw Kagberese IV, appealed to the investor community to take advantage of the business opportunity to invest in the region.

The Bono Regional Minister, Mrs Evelyn Ama Kumi Richardson, on her part, stated that the erstwhile Brong- Ahafo Region had witnessed significant achievement in the area of infrastructure projects and called on citizens of the three regions to partner the government to further enhance development in their areas.

The essence of the celebration, amongst other things, was to show appreciation to the life and work of their forbears and the current generation as well as look back to see how far they have come.

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