Kpetoe, Sept 5, GNA - Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, the First Lady, has warned against using under-aged children for Kente weaving. "I am a strong advocate for children to acquire sustainable livelihoods for the future, but this should never be at the expense of their education, and for that matter their future development," she said.

Mrs Mills gave the advice at this year's Agbamevorza (Kente Festival) of the chiefs and people of Agotime Traditional Area at Kpetoe, at the weekend. It was on the theme, "Kente: Our Heritage for Wealth Creation".

She said the involvement of under-aged children in Kente weaving "grossly violate" international laws and Conventions on the Right of the Child to Education, and must be avoided.

Mrs Mills said to make better weavers in the future; children must be in school and stay there to acquire the needed knowledge and skills that would help them transform the future of the country.

She said the world was rapidly changing and advancing in technology, which called for the need to be innovative and creative and explained that it is was only when children are in school that they would acquire innovative skills to sustain the Kente industry. Mrs Mills commended the community for establishing an Eco-Tourism Centre to document and preserve the Kente heritage and advised the people to register their designs so that the government would adequately protect them from pirates.

She expressed the hope that the Centre would create jobs for the people and promote the tourism potentials of the area. She challenged the people to re-brand the Agotime Kente to meet the changing needs of modern times and make the Kente Cloth popular. "I urge you to think about how to ensure that everyone can afford and use it," she urged. "So, price it right and tell the whole world about it. Let the Kente fabric remain original, but modern." Mrs Juliana Azumah Mensah, Minister of Women and Children, and Member of Parliament of Ho-East, reminded them that anyone who abuses a child, in anyway, would face the full rigours of the law. She advised children and the country's youth to be culture sensitive and conscious to preserve the rich Ghanaian culture. Nene Nuer Keteku III, Konor of Agotime Traditional Area, appealed to the Ministry of Tourism to put the Kente Festival on the Ghana Tourism calendar of festivals to give Kente the needed recognition it deserved.

He said this initiative would help preserve the cultural and aesthetic values of the Kente cloth.

Nene Nuer Keteku observed that many people were using the Kente fabric inappropriately and emphasized that there were various types of Kente for different uses and occasions and advised Kente admirers to seek professional advice on the type of Kente to buy for what occasion. Mr Michael Kobla Adzaho, Adaklu-Anyigbe District Chief Executive, commended the three traditional areas making the district for their peaceful co-existence and said the current peace in the district was yielding dividend with many development projects. He lauded the chiefs and the people of Agotime Traditional Area for their self-help projects and urged other communities to revive their communal spirit to ensure the rapid development of those areas.