The Government has fulfilled all the financial commitments for work to begin on the construction of the Kotokuraba Market Complex in Cape Coast.

The Vice President, Mr Kwesi Amissah Arthur, gave the assurance when he joined a grand durbar of the chiefs and people of Cape Coast to celebrate this year’s Fetu Afahye.

The colourful durbar was attended by traditional rulers, politicians, tourists and a cross section of the public to climax the celebration of the festival.

It was under the theme: “Harnessing the Human Resource Potential of Youth in Oguaaman for Effective Local Development”.

The Vice President said rigorous preparation had been made to speed up construction works on the new Kotokuraba Market whilst work was also progressing steadily on the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.

He said the government was committed to ensuring the total transformation of the country and that the Central Region would have its fair share of the national cake.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said the development of the nation, especially in the area of education, should not be left solely on government and called on churches and traditional rulers to play their respective roles to accelerate the development of the country.

He urged the public, especially the youth, to endeavour to revive their self-help spirit, stressing that, that was the only way the nation could move forward with her development needs.

Mr Samuel Sarpong, Central Regional Minister, commended the planning committee of this year’s festival for dedicating the festival to the youth of the area, noting that this would serve as a unifier to help merge their exuberance and energy with the knowledge and experience of the elderly to bring accelerated development.

The Regional Minister appealed to all stakeholders in the development of Oguaaman, including traditional rulers, religious leaders and citizens, both home and abroad, to join the youth to take full responsibility of their roles.

Mr Sarpong disagreed with the assertion that the Central Region was poor, rather, he said it was the tourism heartbeat of the country, citadel of education, and privileged with some of the finest beaches and festivals.

He, in this regard, asked the youth to take advantage of the resources and build their capacities to fit into the current global market.

“You must keep in mind that success does not come overnight, you really have to be patient and work hard for it and not to resort to short cuts for wealth through fraud and armed robbery,” he added.

Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area, commended Nana Akufo-Addo for accepting the Supreme Court verdict and asking his supporters to ensure that peace prevailed.

He also commended the general public, particularly the youth, for not resorting to violence and other acts after the Supreme Court ruling, and asked them to make use of the good lessons they had learnt.

Osabarima called on the government to speed up work with the construction of the Kotokuraba Market Complex and the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, stressing that the slow pace of work was a source of worry to the people.

Present at the ceremony were Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Henry Danaa, Minister of Culture and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Ebow Barton Oduro, Member of Parliament for Cape Coast North, Mr Kweku Rickets Hagan, MP for Cape Coast South, Mrs Queenstar Sawyer, Deputy Central Regional Minister, and Ms Priscilla Arhin, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive.