The chiefs and people of the Buwa Traditional Area have appealed to the Government to consider upgrading the Zini Health Post to a polyclinic to meet the health needs of the people.

The people, who were however grateful to the Government for giving them one of the community day senior high schools, said with the establishment of the school, the population of the community would increase and would bring more pressure to bear on the health facility.

Kuoro Barecheh Nlowie Baninye II, Acting President of the Buwa Traditional Council, made the appeal during the Fifth Annual Buwaala Kelwie Festival at Zini in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region.

Kuoro Barecheh, who is also the Divisional Chief of Niator in the Zini Paramountcy, noted that the current health post lacked the capacity to contain the pressure that was likely to be exerted on it, hence the need to upgrade it to the status of a polyclinic.

He also appealed to the Sissala West District Assembly, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, and other stakeholders interested in promoting traditional governance to assist the traditional area with a palace conference hall.

He expressed his profound gratitude to the Government for showing firm commitment to the development of the area.

Kuoro Barecheh was particularly thankful to the Government for the Community Day Senior High School in Zini which was still under construction, the extension of electricity to all communities in the traditional area, the provision of potable water, Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds and the grading of some roads for easy movement of goods and services.

He said the theme of the festival; “Preserving and Strengthening our Tradition and Culture - The Role of the Youth,” was carefully chosen to explore the ways of harnessing the hidden talents of the youth.

Dr Musheibu Mohammed Alfa, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, commended the chiefs and people for instituting the festival and appealed to them to use the occasion to foster unity among themselves and the other ethnic groups for a peaceful coexistence.

Dr Alfa reiterated government’s commitment to the expansion of educational infrastructure and advised parents to reciprocate that gesture by sending their children to school.

He noted that the Government, through the Ghana Social Opportunities Project (G-SOP), constructed and rehabilitated a number of dams to enhance all-year-round farming in the district.

He therefore appealed to the youth to venture into agriculture not as the last resort but as a chosen career which would help them better their lot and that of their families and communities.

Dr Alfa called on chiefs and traditional authorities to collaborate effectively with the Sissala West District Assembly and security agencies to fight negative practices in the area such as charcoal burning and fertilizer smuggling which were inimical to government’s efforts at promoting agriculture.

Mr Bukari Darimani, Sissala West District Chief Executive, appealed to the people to use the festival to strengthen the bond of friendship, togetherness, understanding and mutual respect for all in order that outsiders may come to appreciate their culture.